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THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


ENDOWED  BY  THE 

DIALECTIC  AND  PHILANTHROPIC 

SOCIETIES 


b 


PR5246. 
.A51 


This  book  is  due  at  the  WALTER  R.  DAVIS  LIBRARY  on 
the  last  date  stamped  under  "Date  Due."  If  not  on  hold  it 
may  be  renewed  by  bringing  it  to  the  library 


DATE 

DUE                             RET. 

DATE 
DUE 

RET. 

C  r  D    1     ( 

•              ' 

•} 

iinkus 

-Allfi  2Q  1 

iM 

JHW  «  ^  ■ 

"Mfijfrjf-rrr  rtfVYi       ' 

UN  01  '95 

_ 

1 

~~ ~~~~ " — 

~ 

^™™* 

m^ mm 

Rev.  1184 

i 

Dante    Gabriel   Rossetti 


VOL.    I. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://archive.org/details/dantegabrielross01ross 


By  Himself. 


1855. 


Dante   Gabriel   Rossetti. 


V,  \ 


Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  /"£«■ 


HIS    FAMILY-LETTERS 


WITH    A    MEMOIR 


WILLIAM     MICHAEL     ROSSETTI 


WAN  US   ANIMAM   PINXIT 


VOL.    I. 


BOSTON 

ROBERTS      BROTHERS 
1895 


DEDICATED     TO 

MY     FOUR     CHILDREN 

WITH      A      FATHER'S      HOPE 
THAT    RELATIVES    OF 

DANTE     AND     CHRISTINA     ROSSETTI 

AND    DESCENDANTS    OF 

GABRIELE     AND     FRANCES     ROSSETTI 

WILL      UPHOLD     THE     CREDIT     OF 

THEIR    PATRONYMIC. 


■?    r       518880 

v.  / 


PREFACE. 


IN  his  Recollections  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  (1882)  Mr. 
Hall  Caine  has  informed  us  :  "  It  was  always  known  to 
be  Rossetti's  wish  that,  if  at  any  moment  after  his  death  it 
should  appear  that  the  story  of  his  life  required  to  be  written, 
the  one  friend  who,  during  many  of  his  later  years,  knew  him 
most  intimately,  and  to  whom  he  unlocked  the  most  sacred 
secrets  of  his  heart,  Mr.  Theodore  Watts,  should  write  it, 
unless  indeed  it  were  undertaken  by  his  brother  William." 
Dante  Rossetti  died  on  9  April  1882;  and  after  the  lapse 
of  a  few  months  I  decided  to  put  his  Family-Letters  into  shape 
for  early  publication.  Mr.  Watts  acquiesced  in  the  wish 
which  I  then  entertained,  and  which  I  should  still  entertain, 
that  he,  rather  than  myself,  should  be  the  biographer,  writing 
a  Memoir  to  accompany  the  Letters.  Doubtless  he  saw 
reason  for  not  producing  his  Memoir  so  soon  as  I  had  been 
expecting  it  ;  therefore,  after  a  rather  long  interval  of  years, 
I  resolved  in  July  1894  that  the  Letters  must  now  come 
out,  and,  as  they  could  not  be  unlinked  with  a  Memoir,  that 
I  myself  would  write  it.  The  result  is  before  the  reader. 
If  he  would  have  preferred  a  Memoir  from  Mr.  Watts,  I 
sympathize  with  him,  but  the  option  had  ceased  to  be  mine. 
There  are  several  reasons  why  a  brother  neither  is  nor  can 
be  the  best  biographer.     Feeling  this,  I  had  always  intended 


X  PREFACE. 

not  to  write  a  Life  of  Dante  Rossetti.  But  circumstances 
have  proved  too  strong  for  me,  and  I  submit  to  their 
dictate. 

Had  the  book  been  published  towards  1883,  the  Letters 
would  have  extended  very  little  beyond  those  addressed  to 
my  Mother  and  to  myself.  There  were  then  also  a  couple 
to  my  Father,  and  a  very  few  to  my  Sister  Christina.  I  am 
now  enabled  to  add  some  to  my  Grandfather  Gaetano 
Polidori,  my  Uncle  Henry  Francis  Polydore,  my  Aunt 
Charlotte  Lydia  Polidori,  and  my  Wife  Lucy  Madox 
Rossetti  ;  also  some  others  to  Christina  which,  as  they 
contain  expressions  of  approval  with  regard  to  her  writings, 
she  had  herself  with-held.  No  letters  to  other  members  of 
the  family  appear  to  be  in  existence,  though  several  must 
have  been  written. 

The  technical  arrangement  of  the  printed  correspondence 
can  easily  be  understood.  The  letters  are  all  thrown  into  a 
single  sequence,  according  to  the  order  of  date  :  they  are 
lettered  from  A  to  H,  for  the  persons  respectively  addressed, 
and  each  sub-division  is  progressively  numbered  within  its 
own  limits.  In  every  case  where  a  letter  seems  to  require 
any  explanatory  note  or  observation,  I  have  supplied  this 
in  a  few  preliminary  words.  The  dates,  when  not  written 
by  my  brother  himself,  were  in  most  cases  jotted  down  at 
the  time  by  the  recipient :  in  a  few  instances,  where  this  was 
omitted,  the  dates  now  given  are  approximate.  Addresses 
are  also  frequently  inserted  in  like  manner.  I  have  preserved 
(and  must  ask  the  reader  to  pardon  my  mentioning  so  minute 
a  point)  one  instance  of  each  form  of  subscribed  name ;  and 
have  also  reproduced  the  name  in  other  cases  where  it  seems 
more  apposite  to  do  so.  In  contrary  instances  I  omit  both 
the  name  and  the  words  of  subscription  which  precede  it. 
Some    other  Family-Letters    exist,   addressed    to    the   same 


PREFACE.  xi 

persons  ;  but  these  are  such  as  even  a  brother  cannot  suppose 
to  be  of  any  public  interest.  From  those  here  collected 
some  passages  are  omitted  which,  on  one  ground  or  another, 
are  considered  to  be  unsuited  for  printing;  but  on  the  whole 
I  have  been  sparing  of  excisions.  Of  the  items  admitted, 
several  are  indeed  short  and  scrappy  ;  I  have  not  however 
included  anything  which  appears  to  me  to  be  entirely  unin- 
teresting to  persons  interested  in  Dante  Rossetti.  Some 
letters,  otherwise  slight,  fix  the  date  of  a  picture  or  poem  ; 
others  show  some  trait  of  character,  or  contain  some  pointed 
or  diverting  expression. 

The  letters,  such  as  they  are,  shall  be  left  to  speak  mainly 
for  themselves.  Their  language  is  constantly  unadorned, 
often  colloquial ;  the  tone  of  mind  in  them,  concentrated  ; 
the  feeling,  while  solid  and  sincere,  uneffusive.  Their 
subject-matter  is  very  generally  personal  to  the  writer, 
without  discursiveness  of  outlook,  or  eloquent  or  picturesque 
description  ;  yet  the  spirit  is  not  egotistical  or  self-assertive. 
If  I  am  wrong  in  these  opinions,  the  reader  will  decide  the 
point  for  himself. 

My  brother  was  a  rapid  letter-writer,  and  on  occasion  a 
very  prompt  one,  but  not  negligent  or  haphazard.  He  always 
wrote  to  the  point,  without  amplification,  or  any  effort  after 
the  major  or  minor  graces  of  diction  or  rhetoric.  Multitudes 
of  his  letters  must  still  presumably  be  extant  in  private 
hands  :  a  representative  collection  of  them  might  be  found 
to  confirm  the  impression  which  I  should  like  to  ensue  from 
the  present  series — that  as  a  correspondent  he  was  straight- 
forward, pleasant,  and  noticeably  free  from  any  calculated 
self-display.     "  Disinvolto  "  would  be  the  Italian  word. 

Some  persons  may  approve,  others  will  disapprove,  of  the 
publication  of  these  Family-Letters.  I  print  them  because 
the  doing  so  commends  itself  to  my  own  mind.     At  a  very 


xii  PREFACE. 

childish  age  I  was  familiar  with  the  old  apologue  of  the  Man 
and  his  Son  and  the  Donkey  :  it  impressed  me  as  equally 
true  and  practical.  I  have  always  been  conscious  that 
opinions  will  be  as  numerous  as  readers,  and  prefer  to  suit 
the  opinions  of  those  who  happen  to  agree  with  myself. 

Recently  I  have  had  a  painful  reason  for  realizing  to 
myself  a  very  pleasurable  fact — that  of  the  high  estimation 
in  which  my  brother,  himself  no  less  than  his  work,  is  now 
publicly  held,  some  thirteen  years  after  he  passed  away.  The 
death  of  my  beloved  sister  Christina,  on  29  December  1894, 
called  forth  a  flood  of  not  undeserved  but  assuredly  very 
fervent  praise  ;  and  in  the  eulogies  of  her  were  intermixed 
many  warm  tributes  to  my  brother  —  I  might  say,  without  a 
dissentient  voice. 

As  regards  my  Memoir,  I,  having  large  knowledge  and 
numerous  materials,  have  not  consulted  a  single  person 
except  Christina,  who,  during  the  earlier  weeks  of  my  under- 
taking, gave  me  orally  the  benefit  of  many  reminiscences 
relating  chiefly  to  years  of  childhood,  and  often  kept  me  right 
upon  details  as  to  which  I  should  have  stumbled.  On  her 
bed  of  pain  and  rapidly  approaching  death  she  preserved  a 
singularly  clear  recollection  of  olden  facts,  and  was  cheered 
in  going  over  them  with  me. 

Some  readers  of  the  Memoir  may  be  inclined  to  ask  me — 
"  Have  you  told  everything,  of  a  substantial  kind,  that  you 
know  about  your  deceased  brother  ?  " — My  answer  shall  be 
given  beforehand,  and  without  disguise  :  "  No  ;  I  have  told 
what  1  choose  to  tell,  and  have  left  untold  what  I  do  not 
choose  to  tell  ;  if  you  want  more,  be  pleased  to  consult  some 
other  informant." 

One  word  in  conclusion.  In  case  the  present  book  should 
find  favour  with  the  public,  I  should  be  disposed  to  rummage 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

among  my  ample  stock  of  materials,  and  produce  a  number 
of  details  relating  not  only  to  my  brother,  but  also  to  other 
members  or  connexions  of  the  family.  But  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five  a  man  finds  the  horizon  of  his  work  narrowed,  and 
rapidly  narrowing  ;  and  possibly  this  will  not  be. 


W.  M.  ROSSETTI. 


St.  Edmund's  Terrace,  London. 
April  1895. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Dedication vii 

Preface ix 

Memoir 3 

I. 

BIRTH. 

Dante  Rossetti's  birth  in  London,  1828— His  Godfathers  3 

II. 

PARENTAGE. 

Gabriele  (Father  of  Dante)  Rossetti — His  birth  in  Vasto— His  Parents 
and  Brothers — His  drawings,  studies,  and  writings,  in  Italy — 
His  political  lyrics  and  exile — Malta  and  John  Hookham  Frere — 
Life  in  London — His  death — His  character,  opinions,  person,  etc. — 
His  writings  in  England  on  Dante,  etc. — Carducci's  opinion  of 
his  poetry — The  centenary  of  his  birth,  Vasto — Descriptions  of 
him  by  Bell  Scott  and  Frederic  Stephens — Mrs.  Gabriele  Rossetti, 
her  life,  character,  and  person — Some  versicles  of  hers  ...       3 

III. 

RELA  TIVES. 

Dante  Rossetti's  Great-grandfathers — His  maternal  Grandfather,  Gae- 
tano  Polidori,  Secretary  to  Alfieri,  and  Italian  teacher  in  London — 
Anecdotes  of  the  Frencli  Revolution  and  of  Alfieri — Polidori's 
person,  character,  and  writings — Mrs.  Polidori — Her  Father, 
William    Pierce — Connexions   of  the   Pierce    family,  Mrs,  Bray, 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

etc. — Mrs.  Polidori's  closing  years — Her  sister  and  children — 
Dr.  John  William  Polidori  and  his  writings — Teodorico  Pietro- 
cola-Rossetti — Extinction  of  the  Rossetti  family  in  Vasto — 
Instances  of  longevity    .........     24 

IV. 

CHILDHOOD. 

The  four  children  of  Gabriele  Rossetti — Houses  in  Charlotte  Street — ■ 
Dante  Rossetti  and  his  Sister  Maria — Walks  about  London,  etc. — 
Pet  animals — Sights  and  entertainments  in  London — Singing, 
card-playing,  illness,  etc. — First  attempt  at  drawing,  and  resolve 
to  be  a  painter — Theatrical  and  other  prints  .         .         .         .         .36 

V. 

ACQUAINTANCES  IN    CHILDHOOD. 

The  Potters  and  other  British  friends — Numerous  Italian  friends  of 
Gabriele  Rossetti — Pistrucci,  Sangiovanni,  etc. — Protestantizing 
Italians — Mazzini  and  Panizzi — Talks  on  politics — John  Stuart 
Mill  on  Continental  and  English  Life 44 

VI: 

CHILDISH  BOOK-READING   AND  SCRIBBLING. 

Dante  Rossetti's  early  training — The  Bible,  Shakespear,  Gothe,  Walter 
Scott,  etc. — Childish  drawings  from  Henry  VI. — Rossetti's  opinion 
of  Scott's  novels,  1871 — Books  of  prints  and  the  National  Gallery 
— Dante's  poems  read  later  on — Childish  drama,  The  Slave,  etc.- — 
Childish  drawings— Dante  Rossetti  fortunate  in  his  family 
surroundings  ...........     57 

VII. 

SCHOOL. 

Dante  Rossetti's  first  school,  Mr.  Paul's,  1836 — School-life  not  favour- 
able to  his  character — To  King's  College  School,  1837 — The  Cayley 
brothers — What  Dante  Rossetti  learned — His  various  Masters, 
including  John  Sell  Cotman  the  painter — Mr.  Caine's  account  of 
Rossetti's  school-life  discussed — Parallel  with  Edgar  Poe's  school- 
life — School-fellows — School-exercise  on  China,  and  Christina 
Rossetti's  verses  thereon         ........     68 


CONTENTS.  XV11 

VIII. 
HOME-LIFE  DURING  SCHOOL— SIR  HUGH   THE  HERON. 

PAGE 

Polidori's  country-house  at  Holmer  Green,  and  his  house  in  London — 
Accident  with  a  chisel — Boyish  drawings  from  the  Iliad — Dante 
Rossetti  reads  Byron,  Dickens,  Brigand  Tales,  French  novels,  etc. 
— He  writes  a  prose  tale,  Roderick  and  Rosalba,  and  a  ballad- 
poem,  Sir  Hugh  the  Heron,  which  is  privately  printed,  also 
William  and  Marie — His  note  on  Hugh  Heron  —  Boyish  draw- 
ings— Studies  German  under  Dr.  Heimann — Intimacy  with  the 
Heimann  family     .         .  .         .  .         .  79 

IX. 

STUDY  FOR  THE  PAINTING  PROFESSION— CARY'S  AND 
THE  R.A. 

Dante  Rossetti  leaves  school,  1842,  and  goes  to  Cary's  Drawing 
Academy — His  American  friend,  Thomas  Doughty,  and  his  family 
— Charley  Ware,  and  his  portrait-group — Bailey's  Festus,  and 
verses  The  Atheist — Studies  and  habits  at  Cary's — Sonnets  from 
the  Italian,  and  Bouts-rimes  sonnets — The  Westminster  Hall 
cartoon-competitions — Proceeds  to  the  R.A.  antique  school,  1846 
— Disinclination  to  any  obligatory  study  or  work — Millais,  Hol- 
man  Hunt,  Stephens — The  Ghiberti  Gates — Hunt  on  Rossetti's 
appearance  and  demeanour — A  fellow-student's  reminiscence — ■ 
Rossetti's  immethodical  habits — Theatre-going        .        .         .         .88 

X. 

STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,   READING,  AND   WRITING. 

Rossetti's  early  sketches  influenced  by  Gavarni — Lithographed  play- 
ing-cards, etc. — Designs  to    Christina   Rossetti's   Verses,    1847 — 
His    first    uncompleted   oil-picture,    Retro   me  Sathana — Reads 
Shelley,  Charles  Wells,  Maturin,  Thackeray,  etc.,  and  with  great 
predilection  Browning — No  solid  reading — His  prose  tale,  Sor- 
rentino,  1843 — Translations  from  the  German,   The  Nibelungen- 
lied,  Henry  the  Leper,  etc. — Translations  from  the   Vita  Nuova, 
and  lEarly    Italian    Poets — Tennyson's   opinion    of   these — The 
printed  opinions  of  Swinburne  and  Placci — Writes  The  Blessed 
Damozel,  1847 — Admiration  of  Edgar  Poe — Other  poems,   My 
Sister's  Sleep,  Ave,  Dante  at  Verona,  Jenny,  etc. — The  unpublished 
Ballad,  Jan  van  Hunks,  now  begun,  and  finished  on  his  deathbed 
■ — Political    burlesque  poem,   unprinted — Purchase   of  the   MS. 
book  by  Blake — Rossetti's  work,    towards    1862,    on    Gilchrist's 
Life  of  Blake  ..........     97 

VOL.   I.  b 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

XI. 

FRIENDS    TOWARDS    1847. 

PAGE 

Major  Calder  Campbell,  Alexander  Munro,  William  Bell  Scott — Meets 
Ebenezer  Jones — Rossetti's  first  letter  to  Scott,  1847 — Observa- 
tions on  his  poems — Rossetti  sends  The  Blessed  Damozel,  and 
other  Songs  of  the  Art  Catholic,  to  Scott — His  turn  of  mind  in 
religious  matters — Scott's  first  visit — Rossetti  writes  to  Browning 
about  Pauline,  and  knows  him  afterwards     .         .         .         .         .110 

XII. 

MADOX  BROWN,  HOLM  AN  HUNT,   MILLAIS. 

Letter  to  Madox  Brown,  1848,  asking  to  be  allowed  to  study  painting 
under  him — Rossetti's  relation  to  the  course  of  study  at  the  R.A. — 
Details  about  Brown,  and  his  first  call  on  Rossetti — Rossetti  set 
to  still-life  painting,  etc. — He  calls  on  Hunt,  and  consults  him  as 
to  further  painting-work — His  design  of  Gretchen  in  the  Church — 
The  Cyclographic  Society — Opinions  of  Millais  and  Hunt  on  the 
Gretchen — Rossetti's  indifference  to  perspective,  in  which  Stephens 
gives  him  some  lessons — Forwards  some  poems  to  Leigh  Hunt, 
who  (letter  quoted)  praises  them,  but  dissuades  him  from  trusting 
to  literature  as  a  profession — Head  of  Gaetano  Polidori,  June  1848 
— Rossetti  adopts  Holman  Hunt's  advice  as  to  painting,  and 
shares  a  studio  with  him  in  Cleveland  Street — Stephens's  descrip- 
tion of  it — Hunt  takes  Rossetti  round  to  Millais  in  Gower  Street.   1 1 5 

XIII. 

THE  PRAZRAPHAELITE  BROTHERHOOD. 

Lasinio's  engravings  from  the  pictures  in  the  Campo  Santo  of  Pisa 
lead  on  directly  to  the  Prseraphaelite  movement,  1848 — Remarks 
on  Millais,  Hunt,  and  Rossetti,  in  this  connexion — The  British 
school  of  painting  in  1848,  and  the  term  Prasraphaelite — The 
three  inventors  of  the  movement  equally  concerned  in  bringing 
it  to  bear — Rossetti's  letter  to  Chesneau  on  this  point — -Their 
close  attention  to  detail  subsidiary  to  other  objects  in  the  move- 
ment— Madox  Brown's  relation  to  the  Brotherhood — Four  other 
members  of  it — Details  as  to  Woolner,  Collinson,  Stephens,  and 
myself— Great  intimacy  among  the  P.R.B.'s. — Hunt  on  Rossetti's 
literary  attainments — The  aims  of  the  Brotherhood  discussed — 
Not  a  religious  movement,  nor  directly  promoted  by  Ruskin — 
Rossetti,  in  later  life,  disliked  the  term  Praeraphaelite — Diary  of 
the  P.R.B.  kept  by  me  as  Secretary — Defaced  by  Dan-te  Rossetti 


CONTENTS.  XIX 

PAGE 

— Details  from  this  Diary  as  to  election  of  Deverell,  etc. — The 
P.R.B.,  as  an  organization,  dropped  in  January  185 1 — Christina's 
sonnet  The  P.R.B, — "  The  Queen  of  the  Praeraphaelites  " — Rules 
adopted  1851 — The  pictures  of  Millais,  Hunt,  and  Rossetti, 
exhibited  in  1849 — Rossetti's  Girlhood  of  Mary  Virgin — Three 
sonnets  of  his  bearing  on  the  movement — His  portrait  of  Gabriele 
Rossetti,  1848 125 


XIV. 
FIRST  EXHIBITED  PICTURE,    1849. 

Rossetti  sends  The  Girlhood  of  Mary  Virgin  to  the  Free  Exhibition — 
The  works  of  the  Praeraphaelites  favourably  received  by  critics 
and  others  in  1849,  but  very  adversely  afterwards — The  Athenaeum 
notice  of  Rossetti's  first  picture  quoted — Sale  of  the  picture,  and 
its  general  success — -Treatment  in  this  book  of  his  pictures  etc. 
in  later  years,  and  reference  to  another  book,  Dante  Gabriel 
Rossetti  as  Designer  a?id  Writer   . 144 

XV. 

THE  GERM. 

Rossetti  bent  upon  starting  a  magazine,  July  1849 — Proposed  titles 
and  publisher — He  writes  the  prose  story  Hand  and  Soul — 
Meeting  at  his  studio,  and  choice  of  the  title  The  Germ — Contents 
of  No.  1,  and  its  sale — Nos.  3  and  4  appear  under  the  title  Art 
and  Poetry — Notices  of  the  magazine — Debt  upon  its  issue — 
Anecdotes  relating  to  Hand  and  Soul — Rossetti  makes  an  etching 
(destroyed)  for  this  story,  and  begins  another  story  An  Autopsy  - 
chology  (or  St.  Agnes  of  Intercession} — His  various  contributions 
to  the  magazine — Verses  by  John  L.  Tupper  on  its  expiry     .         .149 

XVI. 

PAINTINGS  AND    WRITINGS,    1849-53. 

Trip  with  Holman  Hunt  to  Paris  and  Belgium — Paintings  and 
Designs— Rossetti's  attainments  in  draughtsmanship,  etc. — Details 
as  to  Ecce  Ancilla  Domini — Press-criticism  of  this  picture,  and 
other  Prseraphaelite  works  of  1850 — Extract  from  the  Athenaeum 
— The  Queen  and  Millais's  Carpenter 's  Shop — Details  as  to 
Giotto  painting  Dante's  Portrait,  Head  of  Holman  Hunt,  Mary 
Magdalene  at  the  Door  of  Simon  the  Pharisee,  and  Found — 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Discussion  as  to  the  statement  that  Found  is  an  illustration  of 
Bell  Scott's  poem  Rosabell — Rossetti's  sonnet  to  Woolner  in 
Australia — Collinson's  picture  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary — 
Sketching-club  proposed  in  1854 — Poems,  Dante  at  Verona, 
Burden  of  Nineveh,  Sister  Helen,  etc. — Rossetti  desultory  in 
youth,  and  sometimes  at  odds  with  his  Father — He  drops  writing 
poetry,  1852 — Project  of  his  becoming  a  telegraphist  on  the 
railway — Notion  of  renting  No.  16  Cheyne  Walk — His  studios 
in  Newman  Street  and  Red  Lion  Square — Brown  paints  Rossetti's 
head  as  Chaucer — Rossetti  settles  in  Chambers  in  Chatham 
Place,  1852 157 


XVII. 

MISS  SID  DAL. 

Rossetti  falls  in  love  with  Miss  Elizabeth  Eleanor  Siddal,  1850 — 
Walter  H.  Deverell  first  sees  her  as  assistant  in  a  bonnet-shop — 
Her  appearance — Deverell  gets  her  to  sit  for  the  head  of  Viola 
in  his  picture  from  Twelfth  Night — She  also  sits  to  Hunt  and 
Millais — Her  family — She  sits  to  Rossetti  for  Rossovcstita,  and  a 
subject  from  the  Vila  Nziova,  and  many  other  paintings — An 
engagement  between  Miss  Siddal  and  Rossetti  dating  towards 
1851 — Her  tone  in  conversation,  etc. —Her  paintings  and  verses 
— Swinburne's  estimate  of  her  quoted,  also  her  poem  A  Year 
and  a  Day — Her  extreme  ill-health — She  is  introduced  to  the 
Howitt  family — Rossetti  as  a  lover — Death  of  Deverell,  1854         .   171 


XVIII. 

JOHN  RUSK  IN. 

Ruskin  not  connected  with  the  Prseraphaelite  movement  when  first 
started — In  1851  Patmore  suggests  to  him  to  write  something 
on  the  subject,  and  he  sends  a  letter  to  the  Times — In  1853 
MacCracken  calls  his  attention  to  Rossetti,  and  Ruskin  praises  two 
of  his  water-colours— Ruskin  calls  on  Rossetti,  April  1854 — Their 
intimacy  begins,  partly  interrupted  by  the  death  of  Gabriele 
Rossetti,  and  the  absence  of  Dante  Rossetti  at  Hastings,  and  of 
Ruskin  abroad — Affectionate  and  free-spoken  relations  between 
Ru~kin  and  Rossetti — Madox  Brown's  dislike  of  Ruskin,  who 
becomes  the  chief  purchaser  for  a  while  of  Rossetti's  works — 
Rossetti  ceases  to  exhibit — Ruskin's  opinion  of  Rossetti  after  his 
decease — Extracts  from  Ruskin's  letters,  1854-7 — His  high  regard 


CONTENTS.  XXI 

PACE 

for  Miss  Siddal — He  settles  on  her  ^150  a  year,  taking  her 
paintings  in  proportion — Cessation  of  this  arrangement,  1857 — 
She  goes  abroad  with  Mrs.  Kincaid,  1855,  returning  1856 — Decline 
of  her  health — My  own  acquaintance  with  Ruskin — Rossetti 
admires  him  as  a  lecturer— Letter  from  Rossetti  to  MacCracken, 
Extract    .         .         . .         .         .178 


XIX. 

WORK  IN   1854-5-6. 

Water-colours  from  Dante,  etc. — Paolo  and  Franccsca,  Passover  in 
Holy  Family,  Head  of  Browning,  Dante  s  Dream,  Designs  from 
Tennyson,  etc. —  The  Seed  of  David,  Triptych  in  Llandaff  Cathe- 
dral— General  characteristics  of  Rossetti's  style  at  this  period — - 
Troubles  with  the  Tennyson  designs,  and  Tennyson's  own  views 
of  them — Sketches  of  Tennyson  reading  Maud — The  Seddon^ 
and  the  Triptych — The  Elite  Closet,  water-colour,  and  William 
Morris — The  Wedding  of  St.  George — James  Smetham,  and  his 
remarks  hereon 187 


XX. 

OXFORD  MEN    AND   WORK—BURNE-JONES,   MORRIS, 
SWINBURNE. 

Friends  of  Rossetti  between  1847  and  1855 — Burne-Jones  calls  upon 
him,  June  1856,  and  is  advised  by  Rossetti  to  adopt  painting  as 
a  profession — Afterwards  Rossetti  knows  Morris  and  Swinburne 
— The  architect  of  the  Oxford  Museum,  Woodward,  invites 
Rossetti  in  1855  to  undertake  some  decorative  work  there— He 
does  not  do  this,  but  in  1857  begins  painting  in  the  Union  Debat- 
ing-Hall  from  the  Morte  d'  Arthur — Morris  co-operates — Details 
as  to  the  Union-work — In  1856  Rossetti  publishes  The  Burden  of 
Nineveh  and  some  other  poems  in  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
Magazine — Ruskin  on  The  Burden  of  Nineveh — Other  painters 
in  the  Union  Hall — Ultimate  spoiling  of  the  work — Swinburne's 
introduction  to  Rossetti — Rossetti  and  his  friends  see  in  Oxford 
Miss  Burden,  who  becomes  Mrs.  Morris,  and  from  whom  Rossetti 
paints  many  heads — The  Praeraphaelite  Exhibition  in  Russell 
Place,  1857 — Miss  Siddal's  ill-health  takes  Rossetti  to  Bath,  etc. 
— Proposal,  not  carried  out,  for  a  "  College,"  in  which  he  and 
other  artists  would  settle — Miss  Siddal's  dissent — Hunt's  state- 
ment as  to  an  "  offence  "  by  Rossetti      .         .         .         .         .         .   193 


xxii  CONTENTS. 

XXI. 

WORK  IN   1858-59. 

PAGE 

Water-colour  of  Mary  in  the  House  of  John,  oil-picture  Bocca  Baciata, 
etc.— Bell  Scott's  reference  to  the  sitter  for  Bocca  Baciata — Miss 
Herbert — Poems,  Love's  Noctum,  and  The  Song  of  the  Bower — 
The  Hogarth  Club,  1858,  and  paintings  there  exhibited         .         .  202 


XXII. 

MARRIAGE. 

Reasons  for  postponing  marriage — Mr.  Plint  and  other  purchasers  of 
Rossetti's  pictures — Extreme  ill-health  ofMissSiddal  at  Hastings, 
April  i860 — Marriage,  23  May — Wedding-trip  to  Paris— Enlarge- 
ment of  Rossetti's  views  of  pictorial  art — His  designs  in  Paris, 
How  They  Met  Themselves,  etc. — He  returns  with  his  wife  to 
the  Chambers,  afterwards  enlarged,  in  Chatham  Place  .         .         .  204 


XXIII. 

MARRIED   LIFE. 

Bell  Scott  on  Rossetti's  unsuitableness  for  married  life — Remarks 
hereon — Mrs.  Rossetti  intimate  with  the  Brown,  Morris,  and 
Burne-Jones  families — Ruskin  on  drawings  made  by  Rossetti  from 
her — Rossetti's  intimacy  with  Swinburne — also  with  Meredith, 
Sandys,  Gilchrist,  etc. — Death  of  Gilchrist,  1861 — Mrs.  Madox 
Brown's  offer  to  help  during  his  illness — Mrs.  Rossetti's  infirm 
health,  and  birth  of  a  stillborn  infant — Death  of  Mrs.  H.  T.  Wells 
— Rossetti  speaks  of  "  getting  awfully  fat  and  torpid  "  .         .         .  208 


XXIV. 

WORK  IN  1860-61— THE  EARLY  ITALIAN  POETS— THE 
MORRIS  FIRM. 

Death  of  Plint,  and  embarrassment  ensuing  to  Rossetti,  i860 — The 
Plint  sale — Water-colours  of  Lttcrezia  Borgia  and  of  Swinburne, 
design  of  Cassandra,  oil-picture  of  Fair  Rosamund,  etc. — Pre- 
parations for  publishing  The  Early  Italian  Poets — Opinions  of 
Ruskin  and  Patmore — Published  by  Smith  and  Elder,  with  some 
subsidizing  from  Ruskin — Favourable  reception  of  the  book,  and 
result  of  its  sale — Proposed  etchings  to  it  not  produced — Rossetti 


CONTENTS.  XXlll 

I'AOF. 

shows  some  original  poems  to  Ruskin,  with  a  view,  unsuccessful, 
to  publication  in  The  Cornhill  Magazine — -He  announces  a  volume, 
Dante  at  Verona  and  other  Poems,  not  actually  published — 
Foundation  in  i860  of  the  firm,  Morris,  Marshall,  Falkner,  &  Co. 
— Seven  members,  including  Rossetti — Details  as  to  Webb, 
Marshall,  and  Falkner — Money  ventured  on  the  firm — Good- 
fellowship  of  Rossetti  and  his  partners— Methods  of  business, 
more  especially  of  Morris  as  leading  partner  and  manager— 
Warrington  Taylor — Rossetti's  designs  for  stained  glass,  etc.        .  213 


XXV. 

DEATH  OF  MRS.   DANTE   ROSSETTI. 

Her  illness,  phthisis  and  neuralgia — The  last  painting  for  which  she 
sat — 10  February  1862,  she  dines  at  an  hotel  with  her  husband 
and  Swinburne — My  contemporary  note  as  to  her  death  next 
morning  from  taking  over-much  laudanum — Dr.  John  Marshall — 
Newspaper-paragraph,  showing  inquest,  and  verdict  of  accidental 
death — Rossetti's  sorrow  and  agitation— Ruskin  calls,  and  exhibits 
a  change  in  religious  opinion — The  funeral — Rossetti  consigns  to 
the  coffin  his  book  of  MS.  poems — Caine's  account  of  this  incident 
— Rossetti's  letter  to  Mrs.  Gilchrist  on  his  wife's  death  .         .         .  220 


XXVI. 

SETTLING  IN  CHEYNE   WALK. 

Rossetti  resolves  to  leave  Chatham  Place,  and  proposes  to  combine 
with  his  family  and  Swinburne  in  getting  a  new  house — He  fixes 
on  No.  16  Cheyne  Walk — Relinquishes  the  proposal  as  to  the 
family — His  water-colour,  Girl  at  a  Lattice,  and  crayon-head  of 
his  Mother — Takes  chambers  provisionally,  59  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields — New  arrangement  for  Cheyne  Walk,  Dante  Rossetti  as 
tenant,  with  Swinburne,  Meredith,  and  myself,  as  sub-tenants — 
Condition  of  Cheyne  Walk  in  1862 — Caine's  account  of  the  house 
in  1880 — Further  details  as  to  the  drawing-room  etc. — Taking 
possession  of  the  house,  October  1862 — Rossetti  not  constantly 
melancholy  after  his  wife's  death — Meredith  and  Swinburne  as 
sub-tenants  for  the  first  two  or  three  years — Meredith's  opinion 
of  Rossetti — Extracts  from  letters  from  Ruskin  and  Burne-Jones, 
1862 — Rossetti  makes  acquaintance  with  Whistler  and  Legros — 
His  art-assistant  Knewstub — Advance  in  Rossetti's  professional 
income    ..,.,.....,.  227 


XXIV  CONTENTS. 

XXVII. 
WORK   FROM   1862    TO   1868. 

PAGE 

Oil-pictures,  Joan  of  Arc,  Bcata  Beatrix,  The  Beloved,  Lilith,  Venus 
Verticordia,  Sibylla  Palmifera,  Monna  Vanna,  Mrs.  Morris,  etc. 
— Water-colours,  Paolo  and  Fra?icesca,  Return  of  Tibullus  to 
Delia,  Tristram  and  Yseult,  etc. — Designs,  Michael  Scoff  s  Wooing, 
Aurea  Catena,  etc. — Details  as  to  most  of  these  works,  also  Helen 
of  Troy,  Aurelia,  The  Boat  of  Love,  The  Blue  Bower,  II  Bamo- 
scello,  La  Pia,  Heart  of  the  Night,  Washing  Hands,  Socrates 
taught  to  Da?ice  by  Aspasia,  Aspecta  Medusa — Erroneous  impres- 
sion that  Rossetti  painted  only  from  Mrs.  Morris — Other  sitters 
named,  Christina  Rossetti,  Lizzie  Rossetti,    Mrs.    Hannay,   Mrs. 

Beyer,  Mrs.  H ,  Miss  Wilding,  Miss  Mackenzie,  Keomi,  Ellen 

Smith,  Miss  Graham,  Mrs.  Stillman,  Mrs.  Sumner,  etc. — Remarks 
on  Mrs.  Morris  as  his  type — His  letter  to  the  Athenceum  as  to 
his  being  a  painter  in  oils — Shields  on  Rossetti's  use  of  com- 
pressed chalk — Purchasers  of  his  works,  Leathart,  Rae,  Graham, 
Leyland,  Valpy,  Mitchell,  Craven,  Lord  Mount-Temple,  Colonel 
Gillum,  Trist,  Gambart,  Fairfax  Murray — Insufficiency  of  Rossetti's 
studio,  and  its  ultimate  alteration — Dunn  succeeds  Knewstub  as 
his  art-assistant — Large  income  made  by  Rossetti  in  1865  and 
other  years — His  friendly  relations  with  purchasers — His  work 
1862-3,  in  connexion  with  Gilchrist's  Life  of  Blake        .         .         .  238 


XXVIII. 

INCIDENTS,    1862    TO    1868. 

Rossetti's  animals  at  Cheyne  Walk — His  notions  about  ghosts — The 
wombat,  woodchuck,  and  zebu — Attempts  to  communicate  with 
his  deceased  wife  by  table-turning — The  Burlington  and  other 
Clubs — The  Bab  Ballads — Rossetti  houses  Sandys  for  a  while, 
and  George  Chapman — Other  friends — Charles  Augustus  Howell, 
who  becomes  Ruskin's  secretary — Bell  Scott  and  Woolner — 
Intimacy  with  Ruskin  comes  to  an  end — Extracts  from  Ruskin's 
letters  in  1865 — Rossetti  collects  works  of  decorative  art,  especially 
blue  china  and  Japanese  prints — Buys  a  picture  by  Botticelli        .  251 

XXIX. 

BEGINNINGS   OF  ILL-HEALTH— PENKILL   CASTLE. 

Rossetti  generally  healthy  in  youth— 1866,  a  complaint  requiring 
surgical   treatment — 1867,    insomnia,    and   failure   of   eyesight — 


CONTENTS.  XXV 

PACE 

Doctors  consulted — Trip  to  Warwickshire  in  1868,  and  stay  at 
Penkill  Castle,  Ayrshire,  with  Miss  Boyd,  Miss  Losh,  and  Bell 
Scott — The  Leeds  Exhibition  of  Art — Loan  made  by  Miss  Losh 
— Return  to  Cheyne  Walk,  and  details  as  to  eyesight — Resumes 
art-work  in  December     ...         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  264 


XXX. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  PUBLISHING  POEMS. 

Rossetti  re-visits  Penkill,  1869 — Urged,  in  1868,  by  Scott  to  "live 
for  his  poetry" — Sonnets  previously  published  in  1868,  others 
in  1869 — Estimate  for  printing — Poems  written  at  Penkill,  1869 
— Alleged  impulse  towards  suicide — Fancy  about  a  chaffinch — "  A 
curiously  ferocious  look " — Poems  printed,  not  for  immediate 
publication — -The  unburying  of  the  MS.  deposited  in  his  wife's 
coffin — Arrangement  with  Ellis  as  publisher — Rossetti's  com- 
bination of  self-reliance  and  self-mistrust — He  is  anxious  to 
secure  a  favourable  critical  reception  of  the  Poems  at  starting 
— Extracts  on  this  point  from  my  Diary  and  from  Scott's  book 
— Rossetti's  habits  as  to  drinking — Death  of  Michael  Halliday 
— Acquaintance  with  Nettleship,  Hake,  and  Hueffer — Hake's  esti- 
mate of  Rossetti's  character    ........   270 


XXXI. 

ART-WORK  FROM   1869    TO   SUMMER   1872. 

Oil-pictures  of  Pandora,  Mariana,  Dante's  Dream,  Veronica  Vero- 
nese, etc. — Water-colour  of  Michael  Scott — Designs  of  Penelope, 
Dr.  Hake,  etc. — Details  as  to  some  of  these  works,  especially 
Dante's  Dream — W.  A.  Turner  becomes  a  purchaser    .         .         .   282 

XXXII. 

THE  POEMS,    1870— CHLORAL— KELMSCOTT  MANOR-HOUSE. 

The  Poems  forthcoming — Sojourn  at  Scalands — Rossetti's  American 
friend  Stillman,  who  recommends  chloral  as  a  soporific — Rossetti's 
excess  in  chloral-dosing,  washed  down  by  whiskey,  and  the  bad 
effects  resulting — Publication  of  the  Poems,  April  1870 — Rapid 
sale — Swinburne's  review,  extracts — Other  reviews,  The  Catholic 
World,  etc. — Letters  from  acquaintances — Adverse  criticism  in 
Blackwood's  Magazine,  coolly  received  by  Rossetti—  Republica- 


xxvi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

tion  of  the  Italian  translations  as  Dante  and  his  Circle,  1873 — 
Rossetti  in  1871  at  Kelmscott  Manor-house,  which  he  shares  with 
the  Morris  family — Philip  Bourke  Marston  and  Edmund  Gosse  on 
Rossetti — Turguenieff — Poems  written  at  Kelmscott     .         .         .285 


XXXIII. 

THE  FLESHLY  SCHOOL   OF  POETRY. 

Robert  Buchanan,  as  Thomas  Maitland,  publishes  in  the  Contemporaiy 
Review  an  attack  thus  entitled  on  Rossetti's  Poems,  October  1871 
— His  previous  attack  on  Swinburne,  1866,  and  my  Criticism — 
Review  of  my  edition  of  Shelley,  1870 — The  Fleshly  School  en- 
larged and  re-issued  as  a  pamphlet — Extracts  from  it — Rossetti 
not  much  troubled  by  the  review-article— A  dinner  at  Bell  Scott's 
— Rossetti  replies,  publishing,  in  the  Athenceum,  The  Stealthy 
School  of  Criticistn,  and  writing  a  pamphlet,  which  is  withheld — 
Aggravated  imputations  in  the  pamphlet  form  of  The  Fleshly 
School — Buchanan's  retractation,  188 1-2,  extracts — Summary  of 
the  facts — Quitter's  article  The  Art  of  Rossetti,  1883,  extract         .  293 


XXXIV 

HYPOCHONDRIA   AND  ILLNESS. 

Dividing  line  in  Rossetti's  life,  spring  1872 — He  is  perturbed  by  The 
Fleshly  School  of  Poetry  in  its  book-form,  and  has  fancies  of  a 
conspiracy  against  him — Other  adverse  critiques — Evidences  of 
mental  unsettlement  on  2  June — Browning  regarded  with  sus- 
picion— Rossetti  not  insane,  but  affected  by  hypochondria,  result- 
ing largely  from  chloral — Physical  delusions — Mr.  Marshall  and 
Dr.  Maudsley — Extract  from  the  Memoirs  of  Eighty  Years,  written 
by  Dr.  Hake,  who  takes  Rossetti  off  to  his  house  at  Roehampton 
— Scott's  remarks — Attempt  at  suicide  by  laudanum  on  the  night 
of  8  June — Mistake  as  to  serous  apoplexy — I  fetch  my  Mother 
and  Sister  Maria,  Christina  being  ill — Brown  calls-in  Marshall, 
who,  along  with  Hake,  saves  Rossetti's  life — Mental  disturbance 
continues,  and  Rossetti  moves  into  Brown's  house,  followed  by 
three  houses  in  Perthshire— Hemiplegia — Rossetti's  companions  in 
Perthshire — Extracts  from  Scott  and  Hake — Resumption  of  paint-' 
ing,  and  gradual  recovery — Surgical  treatment — Money-affairs 
— Sale  of  the  collection  of  china,  and  removal  of  pictures  to  Scott's 
house      .,....,,..,.  303 


CONTENTS.  XXV11 


XXXV. 


STAY  AND    WORK  AT  KELMSCOTT,    1872-4— THEODORE 
IV A  TTS. 

PAGE 

Rossetti,  with  George  Hake,  returns  from  Scotland,  and  re-settles  at 
Kelmscott  Manor-house — His  health  and  spirits  at  first  good, 
afterwards  re-injured  by  chloral — Personal  details — -Knows  Theo- 
dore Watts  as  a  lawyer,  and  soon  as  an  intimate  literary  and 
personal  friend — Fixes  upon  Howell  as  his  professional  agent — 
Advantages  accruing  from  this  connexion — J.  R.  Parsons,  Howell's 
partner — Rossetti  paints  Proserpine,  also  La  Ghirlandata,  The 
Bower  Maiden,  The  Blessed  Damozel,  Dante's  Dream  (smaller 
replica),  The  Roman  Widow — Re-publishes  Dante  and  his  Ciixle 
— Nonsense-verses — Recurrence  of  gloomy  fancies— Scott's  cheque 
for  ^200 — Quarrel  with  anglers — Rossetti  leaves  Kelmscott  in 
July  1874,  and  never  returns  thither        .         .         .         .         .         .321 

XXXVI. 

LONDON  AND   ELSEWHERE,    1874-8. 

Discussion  of  Bell  Scott's  statements  about  Rossetti's  seclusion,  his 
desertion  by  old  friends,  George  Hake,  Browning,  his  new  friends, 
his  want  of  candour — Rossetti's  condition  of  health  and  mental 
tone — Theodore  Watts — Rossetti  goes  to  Aldwick  Lodge,  Bognor 
— Libel-case,  Buchanan  v.  Taylor — Goes  to  Broadlands — The 
Mount-Temples  and  Mrs.  Sumner — "Deafening"  of  Rossetti's 
studio — Mesmerism — Surgical  operation,  as  narrated  by  Watts — 
Stay  at  Hunter's  Forestall — Disappearance  of  letters — Details  as 
to  chloral — Brown  ceases  to  see  Rossetti  for  some  months — 
Renewal  of  lease  in  Cheyne  Walk — Death  of  Oliver  Brown,  and 
Rossetti's  impression  as  to  his  posthumous  writings — Death  of 
Maria  F.  Rossetti 331 

XXXVII. 

INCIDENTS  AND   TRANSACTIONS,    1874-81— HALL   CAINE. 

Dissolution  of  the  Partnership,  Morris,  Marshall,  Falkner,  &  Co.,  1874 
— Rossetti  obtains  possession  of  the  portrait  of  him  painted  by 
G.  F.  Watts,  R.A.- — He  drops  his  connexion  with  Howell,  1876, 
and  the  reasons  for  this — Drawings  falsely  attributed  to  Rossetti 
— Fluctuations  in  his  income — Funds  for  the  families  of  James 
Hannay  and  J.  L.  Tupper,  and  exertions  to  benefit  James  Smetham 
— Declines  to  exhibit  in  the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  1877 — An  excep- 
tion, for  the  benefit  of  an    art-institution,  to  his  system  of  not 


XXV111  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

exhibiting — Unfounded  report  as  to  a  visit  from  the  Princess 
Louise — Rossetti's  correspondence  with  Hall  Caine  begins,  1879 
— Extract  from  Caine's  Recollections  as  to  his  first  visit  to  Rossetti, 
1880 — Reference  to  various  details  given  by  Caine  as  to  Rossetti's 
opinions,  etc. — His  view  debated  as  to  Rossetti's  natural  irresolu- 
tion and  melancholy — -Friends  who  arranged  to  visit  Rossetti  from 
day  to  day — Continued  activity  in  painting,  along  with  poetry, 
and  the  re-edition  of  Gilchrist's  Life  of  Blake         ....  346 

XXXVIII. 

PAINTINGS  AND  POEMS,    1874-81. 

Pictures  of  The  Blessed  Damosel,  Dante's  Dream  (replica),  La  Pia,  La 
Bella  Mano,  Venus  Astarte,  The  Sea-spell,  Mnemosyne,  Beata 
Beatrix  (finished  by  Madox  Brown),  A  Vision  of  Fiammetta,  La 
Donna  delta  Finestra,  The  Daydream — Designs  of  The  Sphinx, 
The  Spirit  of  the  Rainbow,  Perlascura,  Desdemonds  Death-song, 
Sancta  Lilias,  The  Sonnet — Water-colour,  Bruna  Brunelleschi — 
Details  as  to  The  Sea-spell,  Vision  of  Fiammetta,  Daydream — 
Scott's  narrative  as  to  The  Sphinx — Details  as  to  Desdemona's 
Death-song  and  Bruna  B?  unelleschi — Haydon's  Etching  of  Hamlet 
and  Ophelia — Caine's  account  as  to  how  Rossetti  resumed  poetical 
composition  towards  1878 — Sonnet  on  Cyprus — Other  Sonnets — 
The  historical  ballads,  The  White  Ship  and  The  King's  Tragedy — 
The  Beryl-songs  in  Rose  Mary      .......  362 

XXXIX. 

DANTE'S  DREAM— BALLADS  AND  SONNETS. 

In  July  1881  Hall  Caine  becomes  an  inmate  of  Rossetti's  house — His 
somewhat  trying  position  there — Dunn  leaves  the  house — Dante's 
Dream  returned  to  Rossetti,  at  his  own  wish,  by  Valpy,  who 
is  to  receive  other  works  in  exchange — Caine  suggests  to  the 
authorities  of  the  Walker  Gallery,  Liverpool,  the  purchase  of  this 
picture — Alderman  Samuelson  favours  the  proposal — Mr.  R.  and 
his  proceedings  in  the  same  matter — Purchase  carried  out  for 
,£1,650,  September  1881 — Recognition  by  Rossetti  of  the  friendli- 
ness of  Caine  and  Samuelson — Transactions  with  Valpy  and 
Graham — March  1 88 1,  Rossetti  contemplates  bringing  out  a  new 
volume,  Ballads  and  Sonnets,  and  re-issuing,  in  a  modified  form, 
the  Poems  of  1870 — Publishing-arrangements,  and  rapid  sale  of 
Ballads  a?id  Sonnets  in  October — Proposed  ballads  on  Joan  of 
Arc,  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  Alexander  III.  of  Scotland— Critics 
favourable  to  the  new  volume— Rossetti  derives  little  pleasure 
from  these  successes       .,.,-..,,.  369 


CONTENTS.  XXIX 

XL. 

CUMBERLAND  AND  LONDON— FINAL  ILLNESS. 

PAGE 

Rossetti's  state  of  health  :  blood-spitting,  etc. — He  goes  with  Caine  to 
the  Vale  of  St.  John,  Keswick,  September  1881 — Returns  worse 
than  he  went — "Absolution  for  my  sins":  Scott's  narrative,  and 
observations  on  Rossetti's  opinions  upon  religion — Paintings  : 
Salutation  of  Beatrice,  duplicates  of  Proserpine  and  of  Joan  of 
Arc,  Donna  delta  Fincstra— Visit  from  Dr.  and  Philip  Marston — 
Quasi-paralytic  attack  and  discontinuance  of  chloral — Account  by 
Caine,  and  extracts  from  my  Diary — Scott  and  Morris  on  the 
same  subject — The  Medical  Resident  Henry  Maudsley,  and  the 
Nurse  Mrs.  Abrey — Rossetti,  with  Caine  and  Miss  Caine,  goes  to 
Birchington-on-Sea — Scott's  remarks  on  Rossetti's  later  years — 
Miss  Caine's  reminiscences     ........  375 

XLI. 

B1RCHINGTON-ON-SE.  1 . 

Birchington  and  Westcliff  Bungalow — Rossetti's  condition  there — He 
is  joined  by  his  Mother  and  Sister — Other  friends — Paintings  of 
Proserpine  and  of  Joan  of  Arc,  and  sketches  of  his  Father  for 
Vasto — Ballad  oijan  van  Hunks,  and  Sonnets  on  The  Sphinx — 
Novel-reading — Correspondence  with  Joseph  Knight  and  Ernest 
Chesneau — Extracts  from  Mrs.  Rossetti's  Diary     ....  390 


XLII. 

DEATH  AND  FUNERAL. 

My  visit  to  Birchington,  1  April  1882 — Extracts  from  my  Diary,  show- 
ing Dante's  very  grave  condition  of  health — Extracts  from  Mrs. 
Rossetti's  Diary,  4  to  9  April — Rossetti's  death,  9  April— My 
memorandum  of  it — His  will — Arrival  of  Lucy  Rossetti  and 
Charlotte  Polidori — The  funeral,  further  extracts  from  Mrs. 
Rossetti's  Diary,  and  letter  from  Judge  Lushington — The  tomb- 
stone, stained-glass  window,  and  monument  in  Cheyne  Walk       .  395 


XLIII. 

PERSONAL   DETAILS— EXTRACTS. 

Rossetti's  character — Canon  Dixon's  statement — Remarks  by  Knight, 
Patmore,   and  Watts — His   appearance — His   feeling   as   to   the 


X  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

beauties  of  Nature — His  views  on  politics — Various  remarks  of 
his  on  fine  art,  literature,  and  other  matters,  along  with  observa- 
tions by  Hunt,  Caine,  Sharp,  Oliver  Brown,  and  myself        .         .  404 


XLIV. 

ROSSETTI  AS  PAINTER  AND  POET— EXTRACTS. 

Decision  not  to  offer  my  own  criticism  on  this  matter — Extracts :  upon 
Fine  Art,  Leighton,  Royal  Scottish  Academy,  Hunt,  Stephens, 
Ouilter,  Ruskin,  Smetham,  Shields,  Hake,  Rod,  Mourey,  Sartorio 
— Upon  Literature,  Swinburne,  Watts,  Caine,  Forman,  Knight, 
Hueffer,  Sharp,  Mrs.  Wood,  Patmore,  Myers,  William  Morris, 
Pater,  Madame  Darmesteter,  Skelton,  Sarrazin,  Gamberale — 
other  Translators  and  Critics  named   ......  423 


LIST     OF      PORTRAITS. 

VOL.    I. 


I.    Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti,  1855.      By  Himself       .     Frontispiece 
II.    Gabriele  Rossetti,  1853.      By  D.  G.  Rossetti      .    To  face  p.  20 

III.  Gaetano  Polidori,  1848.      By  D.  G.  Rossetti       .  „         123 

IV.  Elizabeth  Eleanor  Siddal  (Rossetti),  1854.     By 

Herself „        1 75 

V.    Christina  G.  Rossetti,  1848.     By  D.  G.  Rossetti  „         342 


ERRATA. 

Vol.  I. 

;e  xxi,  line  12  from  bottom,  for  Morte  read  Mort 
14,  line  1 1,  for  dark-speaking  read  dark  speaking 
54     „     8,  for  Rufini  read  Ruffini 
59     ><    6)  for  Fitz-Eustace  read  De  Wilton 
119,  lines  14,  15,  for  I  have  not  the  least  recollection  of  what  it  was  read  the 

Study  in  the  manner  of  the  Early  Masters 
135,  line  $,for  Fuhrich  read  Steinle 
166     ,,     11,  for  never  read  hardly 

199     ,,     17  etc.,  for  I   do  not  know — etc.  to  end  of  paragraph,  read  These  ex- 
pressions occur  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Skelton 
235     11    I9ifor  the  earlier  days  of  1864  read  August  1863 
254     ,,     21,  for  perhaps  in  1863  read  in  1864 

274     „     17  etc.,  for  I  cannot  say — down  to  prominent  among  them  read  Two  of 
these  friends  were  Mr.  Scott  and  Mr.  Howell ;  perhaps  also  Mr. 
Henry  Virtue  Tebbs — down  to  Doctors'  Commons 
290     ,,    6  from  bottom,  for  forgot  read  forget 
304     ,,    16,  for  while  read  wile 
336     ,,    22,  for  public  read  published 
359     ,,    4  from  bottom,  for  latter  read  former 
401     ,,    21, /or  if  not  read  and  indeed 
409     „    last, /or  XXX  read  IX 
418     ,,    17,  for  Ikely  read  likely 
436     11     2,  for  reputations  read  reputation, 
11      11    9>  for  object  read  objects 


MEMOIR 


DANTE      GABRIEL      ROSSETTI 


BY 

WILLIAM    MICHAEL    ROSSETTI. 


Be  sure  that  Love  ordained  for  souls  more  meek 
His  roadside  dells  of  rest. 


VOL.    1. 


BIRTH. 

GABRIEL  CHARLES  DANTE  ROSSETTI,  com- 
monly known  as  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti,  was  born  on 
12  May  1828,  at  No.  38  Charlotte  Street,  Portland  Place. 
London.  This  house  is  the  last  or  most  northerly  house, 
but  one,1  on  the  right-hand  or  eastern  side  of  the  street,  as 
you  turn  into  it  to  the  left,  down  Weymouth  Street,  out  of 
Portland  Place.  Charlotte  Street,  beyond  No.  39,  forms  a 
cul-de-sac.  The  infant  was  baptized  at  the  neighbouring  All 
Souls'  Church,  Langham  Place,  as  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  England.  From  his  father  he  received  the  name  Gabriel ; 
from  his  godfather  the  name  Charles  ;  and  from  poetical  and 
literary  associations  the  name  Dante.  His  godfather  was  Mr. 
Charles  Lyell,  of  Kinnordy,  Kirriemuir,  Forfarshire  ;  a  keen 
votary  of  Dante  and  Italian  literature,  a  helpful  friend  to 
our  father,  and  himself  father  of  the  celebrated  geologist,  Sir 
Charles  Lyell.  Some  living  members  of  the  Lyell  family 
continue  to  be  well  known  to  the  present  generation. 

II. 

PARENTAGE. 

Our    parents    were    Gabriele    Pasquale    Giuseppe   Rossetti 
(always  called  Gabriele  Rossetti),  and  Frances  Mary  Lavinia 

1  No.  39  is  now  to  the  right  hand  of  No.  38.  It  appears  to  me  that  this 
was  not  the  case  when  we  lived  in  No.  38,  but  that  that  was  then  the  last 
house  of  all.  The  closed-up  end  of  the  street  has  been  wholly  altered 
since  my  boyish  days. 

3 


4  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Rossetti,  nee  Polidori ;  and,  before  proceeding  further  with 
my  narrative,  I  shall  give  some  particulars  about  them,  and 
about  other  members  of  the  family. 

Gabriele  Rossetti  was  born  on  28  February  1783,  in  the 
city  of  Vasto,  named  also  (by  a  corruption  from  Longobard 
nomenclature)  Vasto  Ammone,  in  the  Province  of  Abruzzo 
Citeriore,  on  the  Adriatic  coast  of  the  then  Kingdom  of 
Naples.  Vasto  is  a  very  ancient  place,  a  municipal  town 
of  the  Romans,  then  designated  Histonium.  We  are  not 
bound — though  some  enthusiasts  feel  themselves  permitted — 
to  believe  that  it  was  founded  by  the  Homeric  hero  Diomed  : 
its  patron  saint  is  the  Archangel  Michael.  Gabriele  was 
the  youngest  son  of  Nicola  Rossetti,  and  his  wife  Maria 
Francesca,  nee  Pietrocola.  Nicola  Rossetti  was  a  Black- 
smith, of  very  moderate  means  ; x  a  man  of  somewhat  severe 
and  irascible  nature,  whose  death  ensued  not  long  after  the 
French-republican  invasion  of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples  in 
1799.  The  French  put  some  affront  upon  him — I  believe 
they  gave  him  a  smart  beating  for  failing  or  neglecting  to 
furnish  required  provisions  ;  and,  being  unable  to  stomach 
this,  or  to  resent  it  as  he  would  have  liked,  his  health  declined, 
and  soon  he  was  no  more.  His  wife  belonged  to  a  local 
family  of  fair  credit  :  but,  like  other  Italian  women  of  that 
period,  she  received  no  scholastic  training  ;  she  could  not 
write  nor  even  read.  The  name  Rossetti  might  be  trans- 
lated   into    "  Ruddykins "    or    "  Redkins "    as    an    English 

1  A  Vastese  connexion  of  mine,  Signor  Giuseppe  Marchesani,  favoured 
me,  early  in  1895,  with  a  number  of  mortuary  and  other  inscriptions  which 
he  had  composed  to  various  members  of  the  family.  I  will  give  here 
the  one  relating  to  Nicola  Rossetti,  who  probably  remains  otherwise 
unrecorded,  unless  by  some  "  forlorn  hie  jacet."  Of  course  anything 
written  in  a  lapidary  style  reads  less  well  in  my  English  than  in  Marche- 
sani's  Italian.  "Nicola  Rossetti,  Blacksmith  poor  and  honourable,  lovingly 
sent  in  boyhood  to  their  first  studies  his  sons,  carefully  nurtured  in 
childhood.  If  Fortune  neglected  him,  provident  Nature  ultimately  dis- 
tinguished, in  the  obscure  Artizan,  the  well-graced  Father,  who,  to  the 
strokes  of  his  hammer  on  the  battered  anvil,  sent  forth  the  sonorous  and 
glorious  echo,  beyond  remote  Abruzzo,  into  Italy  and  other  lands." 


PARENTAGE.  5 

equivalent.  My  father  used  to  say  that  the  Rossetti  race 
was  an  offshoot  of  the  Delia  Guardia  family,  well  known  and 
still  subsisting  in  Vasto  ;  and  that  at  some  date  or  other 
certain  children  of  the  Delia  Guardia  stock  were  noted  for 
florid  complexion  and  reddish  hair,  and  thus  got  called  "  the 
Rossetti,"  in  accordance  with  the  Italian  hobby  for  nicknames, 
and  that  this  name  gradually  stuck  to  them  as  a  patronymic. 

Nicola  and  Maria  Francesca  Rossetti  had  a  rather  large 
family,  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  three  of  the  sons 
earned  distinction.  There  was  Domenico,  who  was  versed 
(as  a  local  historian  records)  "  in  medical  science,  in  civil  and 
canonical  law,  and  in  theology,"  writing  in  Italian,  Latin, 
French,  and  to  some  extent  Hebrew,  and  was  "  the  first 
among  mortals  who  daringly  descended  into  the  Grotto  of 
Montecalvo  near  Nice."  On  this  theme  he  wrote  a  poem 
in  three  cantos,  besides  other  poems  (two  volumes,  printed 
in  Parma)  and  prose  :  he  was  besides  an  Improvisatore. 
Born  in  1772,  he  died  comparatively  young  in  18 16.  There 
was  also  Andrea,  the  eldest  brother,  who  became  a  Canon 
of  San  Giuseppe  in  Vasto  ;  and  thirdly,  Gabriele,  whom  I 
may  be  excused  for  regarding  as  a  more  important  writer 
than  even  the  polyglot  Domenico.  I  might  include,  as 
showing  that  verse-writing  ran  in  the  family,  the  fourth  son, 
Antonio,  who  exercised  the  humble  calling  of  a  wig-maker 
and  barber :  he  likewise  versified  in  an  off-hand  popular 
manner,  and  was  of  some  note  to  his  fellow-townsmen. 

Gabriele  Rossetti  came  into  the  world  well  endowed  for 
the  arts.  As  it  turned  out,  he  took  to  poetry  and  other 
forms  of  literature  ;  but  he  might  equally  have  excelled  in 
drawing  or  in  vocal  music.  I  have  before  me  as  I  write 
three  MSS.  containing  specimens  of  his  early  skill  as  a 
draughtsman,  done  when  he  was  twenty  years  old  or  there- 
abouts. The  drawings  are  illustrations  to  poems  (juvenile 
enough)  of  his  own  composition,  and  are  surprisingly  precise 
and  dainty  in  execution.  One  would  have  little  hesitation 
in  calling  them  copper-engravings  ;  but  they  are,  in  fact, 
pen-designs    done    with    sepia,    which   he    himself  extracted 


6  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

from  the  cuttlefish  or  "  calamarello,"  so  dear  to  Neapolitan 
gourmands.  An  ornamental  headpiece,  two  decorative  title- 
pages,  and  two  landscapes  founded  on  traditions  of  Claude 
or  Gaspar  Poussin,  are  his  own  inventions.  One  drawing  is 
a  group  of  two  women  after  Mignard  ;  and  two  or  three 
others  may  also  be  copies.  From  my  earliest  childhood  I 
have  looked  with  astonishment  on  these  performances  as 
pieces  of  manipulation  ;  and,  after  a  lifetime  spent  among 
artists,  I  hardly  know  what  to  put  beside  them  in  their  own 
limited  line  of  attempt.  Then,  as  to  music,  Gabriele  had 
a  beautiful  tenor-voice,  sweet  and  sonorous  in  a  high  degree. 
It  received  no  regular  cultivation,  but  was  such  that  he  was 
more  than  once  urged  to  train  himself  for  the  operatic  stage 
— a  mode  of  life,  however,  for  which  he  had  no  sort  of 
inclination. 

The  local  magnate  was  the  Marchese  del  Vasto,  of  the 
great  historic  house  of  D'Avalos,  into  which  the  famous 
Vittoria  Colonna  married.  He  was  feudal  Lord  of  the 
Vastese,  and  they  acknowledged  themselves  his  "  vassals," 
though  this  state  of  things,  in  the  epoch  of  a  Robespierre 
and  a  Napoleon,  was  not  destined  to  continue  long.  The 
attention  of  the  Marchese  was  soon  called  to  the  uncommon 
promise  of  his  growing-up  vassal  Gabriele  Rossetti,  and,  after 
some  well-conducted  schooling  in  Vasto,  the  youth  was  sent 
in  1804,  under  the  patronage  of  this  nobleman,  to  study  in 
the  University  of  Naples.  His  education  here  was  cut  short 
after  a  year  and  a  month,  and  consequently  had  not  a  very 
wide  range.  In  middle  life  he  read  Latin  with  ease,  and 
retained  some  remnant  of  geometry  and  mathematics,  but 
of  Greek  he  had  no  knowledge.  In  French  he  was  well 
versed,  speaking  the  language  with  great  fluency  and  an 
amusing  assumption  of  the  tone  of  a  Frenchman.  English 
he  acquired  by  practice  in  Malta  and  in  this  country,  and 
could  both  read  and  talk  it  tolerably  enough,  though  he 
never  did  so  when  he  had  the  option  of  Italian. 

Rossetti  was  just  twenty-three  years  of  age  when  the 
Bourbon   king,    Ferdinand    I.,  was   turned    out   of  his    con- 


PARENTAGE.  7 

tinental  dominion,  and  had  to  retire  into  Sicily,  and  Joseph 
Bonaparte  reigned  in  his  stead.  With  Ferdinand  vanished 
the  Marchese  del  Vasto,  who  was  his  Court-Majordomo.  Thus 
all  the  years  of  Rossetti's  early  manhood  were  passed  in 
association  with  a  Napoleonic  and  not  a  Bourbon  order  of 
ideas.  As  a  sequel  to  his  first  volume  of  poems,  published 
in  1807,  he  obtained  an  appointment  as  librettist  in  the 
operatic  theatre  of  San  Carlo,  writing  three  or  more  opera- 
books,  one  of  them  named  Giulio  Sabino.  He  was  kept  in 
hot  water,  however,  by  the  exigencies  of  managers  and 
vocalists,  and  got  transferred  to  the  Curatorship  of  Ancient 
Marbles  and  Bronzes  in  the  Museum  of  Naples.  He  figured 
in  the  Academy  of  the  Arcadi  as  "  Filidauro  Labidiense." 
There  used  to  be  a  catch, — 

"  Rossini,  Rossetti, 
Divini,  imperfetti " ; 

but  whether  my  father  was  ever  linked  with  Rossini  in  any 
operatic  production  I  am  unable  to  say.  Rossetti  was  well 
received  at  the  Court  of  King  Joachim  (Murat),  the  successor 
of  Joseph.  I  have  heard  him  say  that  he  knew  some- 
thing of  almost  all  the  Bonapartes,  except  only  the  great 
Napoleon.  I  possess  a  slight  portrait  of  him  done  by  the 
Princess  Charlotte  Bonaparte  ;  and  another  of  the  family, 
Lady  Dudley  Stuart,  acted  as  godmother  to  his  daughter 
Christina.  In  my  own  time  Prince  Pierre  Bonaparte  (too 
notorious  as  the  homicide  of  Victor  Noir)  was  frequently  in 
our  house ;  occasionally  also  Prince  Louis  Napoleon,  the 
unduly  glorified  and  duly  execrated  Napoleon  III.,  of  whom 
my  father  would  emphatically  declare  that  he  could  never 
trace  in  him  one  grain  (iieppure  un*  ombrd)  of  Liberalism. 
King  Joachim  fell  in  181 5,  and  King  Ferdinand  was  restored 
to  his  capital  city,  Naples  ;  a  state  of  things  not  likely  to  be 
much  to  the  taste  of  Gabriele  Rossetti— who  in  181 3  had 
acted  as  Secretary  to  that  part  of  the  provisional  government, 
sent  by  Joachim  to  Rome,  which  looked  after  public  instruc- 
tion   and    the   fine  arts.      He  did    not,  however,    under    the 


8  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

restored  Bourbon,  lose  his  post  in  the  Museum.  An  agitation 
ensued  for  a  constitution  similar  to  that  which  the  Spaniards 
established  in  1819 — the  secret  society  of  the  Carbonari,  in 
which  Rossetti  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  being 
especially  active  in  this  direction.  In  1820  there  was  a 
military  uprising,  and  Ferdinand  had  to  grant  the  consti- 
tution— probably  with  a  fixed  intention  of  revoking  it  at  the 
first  opportunity.  Rossetti's  ode  to  the  Dawn  of  the  Con- 
stitution-day, "  Sei  pur  bella  cogli  astri  sul  crine  "  ("  Lovely  art 
thou  with  stars  in  hair "),  was  in  every  Neapolitan  mouth. 
In  1821  the  king,  then  sojourning  in  Austria,  abolished  the 
constitution,  and  suppressed  it  with  the  aid  of  Austrian 
troops.  Carbonarism  was  made  a  capital  offence,  and  the 
leading  constitutionalists  were  denounced  and  proscribed, 
among  them  Rossetti.  He  is  said  to  have  been  viewed  by 
the  king  with  especial  abhorrence,  partly  because  various 
writings,  not  really  his,  were  attributed  to  him,  and  partly 
because  one  of  his  lyrics  contained  the  lines  — 

"  I  Sandi  ed  i  Luvelli 
Non  son  finiti  ancor," 

(Sands  and  Louvels  are  not  yet  extinct.)  The  reference, 
it  will  be  perceived,  is  to  the  political  assassination  of 
Kotzebue  by  Sand,  and  of  the  Due  de  Berri  by  Louvel, 
with  a  suggestion  that  a  like  fate  might  easily  befall  King 
Ferdinand.  Rossetti  did  not  say  that  it  ought  to  befall 
him  ;  but  the  king  was  not  inclined  to  take  a  good-natured 
view  of  the  matter,  or  to  construe  the  phrase  rather  as  a 
loyal  warning  than  as  an  incitement  to  a  deed  of  blood. 
The  peccant  poet  lay  concealed  in  Naples  for  three  months, 
beginning  in  March  1821  ;  finally  the  British  admiral,  Sir 
Graham  Moore,  pressed  by  his  generous  wife  who  knew  and 
liked  Rossetti,  furnished  him  with  a  British  uniform,  got  him 
off  in  a  carriage  to  the  harbour,  and  shipped  him  to  Malta.  I 
have  before  me  a  printed  proclamation  of  King  Ferdinand — 
the  original  document,  dated  28  September  1822 — granting 
an    amnesty   to   persons   concerned   in    the    revolutionary  or 


PARENTAGE.  9 

constitutional  movement,  with  the  exception  of  thirteen  men 
expressly  named.  My  father  is  the  thirteenth.  In  Malta 
he  remained  about  two  years  and  a  half,  holding  classes  (as 
indeed  he  had  previously  done  in  Naples)  for  instruction  in 
the  Latin  and  Italian  languages  and  literature,  and  most 
liberally  befriended  by  the  English  poet  and  diplomatist,  John 
Hookham  Frere,  the  translator  of  Aristophanes  :  their  ami- 
cable relations  continued  after  distance  had  separated  them. 
Deep  indeed  were  the  affection  and  respect  which  Rossetti 
entertained  for  Frere.  One  of  my  vivid  reminiscences  is  of 
the  day  when  the  death  of  Frere  was  announced  to  him,1  in 
1 846.  With  tears  in  his  half-sightless  eyes  and  the  passionate 
fervour  of  a  southern  Italian,  my  father  fell  on  his  knees,  and 
exclaimed,  "  Anima  bella,  benedetta  sii  tu,  dovunque  sei !  "  2 

Rossetti  had  long  been  a  noted  Improvisatore,  as  well  as 
a  poet  in  the  accustomed  way  (he  continued  to  improvise 
to  some  extent  for  a  while,  even  after  coming  to  London), 
and  this,  with  his  other  gifts,  made  him  popular  in  Maltese 
society.  After  a  while,  however,  he  was  harassed  by  the 
spies  or  other  emissaries  of  the  Bourbon  Government,  which 
embittered  his  position  so  much  that  he  resolved  to  have 
done  with  Malta,  and  settle  in  England.  Here  he  arrived 
in  January  or  February  1824,  and  fixed  himself  in  London. 
He  soon  made  acquaintance  with  the  Polidori  family,  and  a 
mutual  attachment  united  him  in  marriage  with  the  second 
daughter,  Frances  Mary  Lavinia,  in  April  1826.  He  subsisted 
by  teaching  Italian,  and  held  perhaps  the  foremost  place  in 
that  vocation.  In  183 1  he  was  appointed  Professor  of  Italian 
in  King's  College,  London.  This  professorship  was  not  a 
sinecure ;  but  the  students  were  few,  and  became  fewer  from 
about  1840  onwards,  when  the  German  language  began 
decidedly  to    supersede    the    Italian    in    public    favour.      My 

1  The  person  who  announced  it  was  Mr.  Edward  Graham,  the  associate 
of  Shelley  in  early  youth.  He  had  taken  to  the  musical  profession,  and 
was  a  man  of  uncommonly  handsome  presence  :  his  bodily  were  superior 
to  his  mental  endowments. 

2  "  Noble  soul,  blessed  be  thou  wherever  thou  art." 


10  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

father  made  at  the  best  a  very  moderate  income  ;  yet  this 
sufficed  for  all  the  requirements  of  himself,  and  his  wife  and 
four  children,  and  no  man  could  be  more  heartily  contented 
with  what  he  got — more  strenuous  and  cheerful  in  working 
for  it,  or  more  willing  "  to  cut  his  coat "  (he  never  turned  it) 
"  according  to  his  cloth."  The  British  religion  of  "  keeping  up 
appearances  "  was  unknown— thank  Heaven — in  my  paternal 
home  ;  my  father  disregarded  it  from  temperament  and  foreign 
way  of  thinking  and  living,  and  my  mother  contemned  it 
with  modest  or  noble  superiority.  The  tolerably  thriving 
condition  of  our  household  declined  with  my  father's  decline 
in  health,  which  began  towards  1842  :  interruption  of  pro- 
fessional work,  waning  employment,  inability  to  take  up  such 
employment  as  offered,  necessarily  ensued.  In  1843  (having 
hitherto  had  uncommonly  keen  eyesight)  he  suddenly  lost 
one  eye  through  amaurosis,  and  the  other  eye  was  greatly 
weakened  and  in  constant  peril,  though  he  was  never  bereft 
of  sight  totally.  A  real  tussle  for  the  means  of  subsistence 
now  arose,  but  by  one  method  or  other  all  was  tided  over. 
Our  scale  of  living,  if  somewhat  more  threadbare  and  dingy, 
did  not  materially  dwindle  from  its  unassuming  yet  comfort- 
able average  ;  and  no  butcher  nor  baker  nor  candlestick- 
maker  ever  had  a  claim  upon  us  for  a  sixpence  unpaid.  In 
his  closing  years  my  father  had  more  than  one  stroke  of 
paralysis.  Some  of  these  were  of  a  formidable  kind  ;  yet  he 
got  over  them  to  a  substantial  extent,  lived  on  in  a  suffering 
state  of  body,  and  with  mental  faculties  weakened,  though 
not  impaired  in  any  definite  and  absolute  way,  and  continued 
diligent  in  reading  and  writing  almost  to  the  last  day  of  his 
life.  His  sufferings,  often  severe,  were  borne  with  patience 
and  courage  (he  had  an  ample  stock  of  both  qualities),  though 
not  with  that  unemotional  calm  which  would  have  been 
foreign  to  his  Italian  nature.  For  nearly  a  year  before  his 
death  he  lived,  with  his  wife  and  daughter  Christina,  at 
Frome  Selwood  in  Somerset ;  but  finally  he  returned  to 
London,  and  died  at  No.  166  Albany  Street,  Regent's  Park, 
on  26  April  1854,  firm-minded  and   placid,  and  glad  to  be 


PARENTAGE.  1 1 

released,  in  the  presence  of  all  his  family.  His  young  cousin, 
Teodorico  Pietrocola-Rossetti,  was  also  there.  He  lies  buried 
in  Highgate  Cemetery. 

Gabriele  Rossetti  was  a  man  of  energetic  and  lively 
temperament,  of  warm  affections,  sensitive  to  slight  or  rebuff, 
and  well  capable  of  repelling  it,  devoted  to  his  family  and 
home,  full  of  good-nature  and  good-humour,  a  fervent  patriot, 
honourable  and  aboveboard  in  all  his  dealings,  and  as  pleasant 
and  inspiriting  company  as  one  could  wish  to  meet.  Though 
sensitive  as  above  stated,  he  was  not  in  the  least  quarrelsome, 
and  never  began  a  conflict  about  either  literary  or  personal 
matters :  this  disposition  he  transmitted  to  his  son  Dante 
Gabriel.  For  some  years  after  settling  in  London  he  went 
a  good  deal  into  society,  and  was  welcomed  in  several  houses. 
This  had  diminished  at  the  date  of  my  earliest  reminiscences, 
and  soon  it  had  wholly  ceased.  He  could  tell  an  amusing 
story  most  capitally — I  have  hardly  known  his  equal  at  that 
— with  good  dramatic  "take-off";  and,  though  his  ordinary 
speech  was,  to  the  best  of  my  judgment,  very  pure  Italian, 
he  could  readily  throw  himself  back,  when  he  liked,  into  the 
Neapolitan  dialect,  or  the  Abruzzese,  which  is  not  a  little 
provincial.1  He  always  spoke  Italian  in  the  family,  never 
English ;  and  his  children  from  the  earliest  years,  as  well 
as  his  wife,  answered  in  Italian.  Apart  from  domestic 
simplicity  or  sportiveness,  his  conversation  was  always  high- 
minded,  implying  a  solid  standard  of  public  and  private 
virtue  :  nothing  about  it  mean  or  sly  or  worldly,  or  tampering 
with  principle.  There  was  indeed  a  certain  tinge  of  self- 
opinion  or  self-applause  in  his  temperament ;  he  rather  liked 
"  to  ride  the  high  horse  "  (as  I  have  heard  my  brother  phrase 

1  I  possess  two  good  books  showing  the  dialect  of  Vasto,  sent  to  me  by 
the  courtesy  of  their  authors:  the  Vocabolmio  dell  Uso  Abruzzese,  by 
Gennaro  Finamore,  and  the  Fujf  Ammesche,  by  Luigi  Anelli.  The  latter 
volume  is  a  series  of  sonnets,  which  appear  to  me  highly  excellent  of  their 
popular  kind.  When  I  say  that  the  Vastese  words  "Fujj'  Ammesche" 
represent  the  Italian  words  "Foglie  Miste,"  my  English  reader  will  be 
able  to  judge  whether  Vaatese  is  a  pure  or  impure  form  of  Italian. 


12  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

it) ;  but  this  was  quite  free  from  envy  or  disparagement  of 
others,  and  did  no  one  any  harm.  Of  what  one  calls  "  personal 
vanity  "  he  had  a  plentiful  lack,  and  was  indeed  very  careless 
(like  many  other  Italians)  in  all  matters  of  the  outer  man. 
As  a  father  he  was  most  kind,  and  would  often  allow  his  four 
children  to  litter  and  rollick  about  the  room  while  he  plodded 
through  some  laborious  matter  of  literary  composition.  He 
always  retained,  however,  a  perceptible  tone  of  the  patria 
potestas.  Rossetti  was  a  splendid  declaimer  or  reciter,  with 
perfect  elocution.  He  put  his  heart  into  whatsoever  he 
did.  His  MSS.  are  models  of  fine  and  minute  penmanship, 
and  show  enormous  pains  in  the  way  of  revision  and  re- 
casting. 

He  was  an  ardent  lover  of  liberty,  in  thought  and  in  the 
constitution  of  society.  In  religion  he  was  mainly  a  free- 
thinker, strongly  anti-papal  and  anti-sacerdotal,  but  not 
inclined,  in  a  Protestant  country,  to  abjure  the  faith  of  his 
fathers.  He  never  attended  any  place  of  worship.  Spite  of 
his  free-thinking,  he  had  the  deepest  respect  for  the  moral 
and  spiritual  aspects  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  in  his 
later  years  might  almost  be  termed  an  unsectarian  and  undog- 
matic  Christian.  As  a  freethinker,  he  was  naturally  exempt 
from  popular  superstitions  —  did  not  believe  in  ghosts,  second 
sight,  etc.  ;  and  the  same  statement  holds  good  of  our  mother. 
In  this  respect  Dante  Gabriel,  as  soon  as  his  mind  got  a 
little  formed,  differed  from  his  parents  ;  being  quite  willing 
to  entertain,  in  any  given  case,  the  question  whether  a  ghost 
or  demon  had  made  his  appearance  or  not,  and  having  indeed 
a  decided  bias  towards  suspecting  that  he  had.  One  point, 
however,  of  popular  superstition,  or  I  should  rather  say  of 
superstitious  habit,  my  father  had  not  discarded.  A  fancy 
existed  in  the  Abruzzi  (I  dare  say  it  still  exists)  that,  if  one 
steps  over  a  child  seated  or  lying  on  the  ground,  the  child's 
growth  would  be  arrested  ;  and  I  have  more  than  once  seen 
my  father  divert  his  path  to  avoid  stepping  over  any  one  of 
us.  In  politics  he  belonged  more  to  the  party  of  constitu- 
tional monarchy  than  to  that  of  republicanism,  but  welcomed 


PARENTAGE.  1 3 

anything  that  told  for  freedom.  He  always  advocated  the 
unity  of  Italy,  long  before  that  aspiration  was  considered  a 
very  practical  one ;  indeed,  I  have  seen  him  described,  on 
good  authority,  as  the  first  apostle  of  unity,  but  am  not 
clear  that  this  is  strictly  accurate. 

In  estimating  Rossetti's  work  as  a  national  or  patriotic  poet, 
and  his  general  attitude  of  mind  in  matters  of  politics,  or  of 
government  in  State  and  Church,  we  should  remember  the 
conditions  (already  referred  to)  under  which  his  life  had  been 
passed.  He  was  born  under  the  feudal  and  despotic  system  of 
the  Neapolitan  Bourbons  ;  his  youth  witnessed  the  more  open- 
minded  but  still  despotic  Napoleonic  rule;  the  Bourbon  restora- 
tion brought-on  a  constitution  sworn  to  by  the  sovereign, 
who  soon  after  perjured  himself  in  suppressing  it  ;  lifelong- 
exile  ensued  to  Rossetti  and  other  constitutionalists.  Then  he 
lived  through  many  abortive  insurrections  against  the  temporal 
and  ecclesiastical  dominators  of  Italy ;  through  the  brilliant 
promise  and  the  retrogression  of  Pope  Pius  IX.  (whom  at 
first  he  acclaimed  with  unmeasured  fervour) ;  through  the 
high  deeds,  glorious  prospects,  and  dolorous  collapse,  of  the 
revolutionary  years  1848-49,  and  through  the  fuliginous 
beginnings  of  the  Neapolitan  King  Bomba  ;  followed  by  a 
genuinely  liberal  government  in  Piedmont  under  Victor 
Emmanuel  and  Cavour,  by  the  coup  d'etat  of  Napoleon  III., 
and  by  general  stagnancy  of  political  thought  and  act 
throughout  Europe.  He  died  five  years  before  1859,  which 
produced  the  alliance  between  France  and  Piedmont,  the 
expulsion  of  the  Austrians  from  Lombardy,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  the  unification  of  Italy.  When  he  died  in 
1854  the  outlook  seemed  extremely  dark;  yet  heart  and 
hope  did  not  abate  in  him.  The  latest  letter  of  his  which 
I  have  seen  published  was  written  in  September  or  October 
1853,  and  contains  this  passage,  equally  strong-spirited  and 
prophetic — 

"  The  Arpa  Evangelica  .  .  .  ought  to  find  free  circulation  through 
all  Italy.  I  do  not  say  the  like  of  three  other  unpublished  volumes, 
which  all  seethe  with  love  of  country  and  hatred  for  tyrants.     These 


14  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

await  a  better  time — which  will  come,  be  very  sure  of  it.  The 
present  fatal  period  will  pass,  and  serves  to  whet  the  universal  desire. 
.  .  .  Let  us  look  to  the  future.  Our  tribulations,  dear  madam, 
will  not  finish  very  soon,  but  finish  they  will  at  last.  Reason  has 
awakened  in  all  Europe,  although  her  enemies  are  strong.  We  shall 
pass  various  years  in  this  state  of  degradation ;  then  we  shall  rouse 
up.  I  assuredly  shall  not  see  it,  for  day  by  day,  nay  hour  by  hour, 
I  expect  the  much-longed-for  death ;  but  you  will  see  it." 

In  person  Gabriele  Rossetti  was  rather  below  the  middle 
height,  and  full  in  flesh  till  his  health  failed  ;  with  a  fine  brow, 
a  marked  prominent  nose  and  large  nostrils,  dark-speaking 
eyes,  pleasant  mouth,  engaging  smile,  and  genuine  laugh. 
He  indulged  in  gesticulation,  not  to  any  great  extent,  but  of 
course  more  than  an  Englishman.  His  hands  were  rather 
small — not  a  little  spoiled  by  a  life-long  habit  of  munching  his 
nails.  As  to  other  personal  habits,  I  may  mention  free 
snuff-taking  without  any  smoking  ;  and  a  hearty  appetite  while 
health  lasted,  with  more  of  vegetable  diet  than  Englishmen 
use.  In  his  later  years  teeth  and  palate  had  failed,  and  all 
viands  "  tasted  like  hay."  Fermented  liquors  he  only  touched 
seldom  and  sparingly.  He  had  liked  the  English  beer,  but 
had  to  leave  it  off  altogether  in  1836,  to  avoid  recurrent 
attacks  of  gout.  In  fact,  he  liked  most  things  English — the 
national  and  individual  liberty,  the  constitution,  the  people 
and  their  moral  tone,  though  the  British  leaven  of  social 
Toryism  was  far  from  being  to  his  taste.  He  certainly  pre- 
ferred the  English  nation,  on  the  whole,  to  the  French,  and  had 
a  kind  of  prepossession  against  Frenchwomen,  which  he  pushed 
to  a  humorous  over-plus  in  speech — saying  for  instance  that, 
if  a  Frenchwoman  and  himself  were  to  be  the  sole  tenants 
of  an  otherwise  uninhabited  island,  the  human  race  on  that 
island  would  decidedly  not  be  prolonged  into  a  second  genera- 
tion. My  father  also  took  very  kindly  to  the  English  coal- 
fires,  and  was  an  adept  in  keeping  them  up  ;  he  would 
jocularly  speak  of  "  buying  his  climate  at  the  coal-mer- 
chant's." In  all  my  earlier  years  I  used  frequently  to  see 
my   father  come  home  in  the  dusk  rather  fagged  with  his 


PARENTAGE.  1 5 

round  of  teaching,  and  after  dining  he  would  lie  down  flat 
on  the  hearthrug  close  by  the  fire,  and  fall  asleep  for  an  hour 
or  two,  snoring  vigorously.  Beside  him  would  stand  up  our 
old  familiar  tabby  cat,  poised  on  her  haunches,  and  holding 
on  by  the  fore-claws  inserted  into  the  fender-wires,  warming 
her  furry  front.  Her  attitude  (I  have  never  seen  any  feline 
imitation  of  it)  was  peculiar,  somewhat  in  the  shape  of  a 
capital  Y — "the  cat  making  the  Y"  was  my  father's  phrase 
for  this  performance.  She  was  the  mother  of  a  numerous 
progeny  ;  one  of  her  daughters — also  long  an  inmate  of  our 
house — was  a  black-and-white  cat  named  Zoe  by  my  elder 
sister  Maria,  who  had  a  fancy  for  anything  Greekish ;  but 
Zoe  never  made  a  Y. 

Rossetti  had  produced  a  tolerable  amount  of  verse  in  Italy, 
also  the  descriptive  account  (which  passes  under  the  name 
of  Cavalier  Finati)  of  the  Naples  Museum  ;  but  all  his  more 
solid  and  voluminous  writing  was  done  after  he  had  settled 
in  London.  The  principal  works  are  as  follows  :  1826 — 
Dante,  Commedia  (the  Inferno  alone  was  published),  with  a 
Commentary  aiming  to  show  that  the  poem  is  chiefly  political 
and  anti-papal  in  its  inner  meaning.  A  great  deal  of  con- 
troversy was  excited  at  the  time  by  this  work,  and  by  others 
which  succeeded  it.  1832 — Lo  Spirito  Antipapale  che  pro- 
dusse  la  Riforma  (The  Anti-Papal  Spirit  zvhich  produced  the 
Reformation),  following  up  and  extending  the  same  line 
of  thought.  An  English  translation  was  also  published. 
1833 — Iddio  e  I'Uomo,  Salterio  {God  and  Man,  a  Psaltery), 
poems.  The  two  last-named  books  have  the  honour  of  being 
in  the  Pontifical  Index  Librorum  Prohibitorum,  edition 
1838,  and  perhaps  others  are  there  now.  1840 — //  Mistero 
delV  Amor  Platonico  del  Medio  Evo  {The  Mysterious  Platonic 
Love  of  the  Middle  Ages),  five  volumes  ;  a  book  of  daring 
and  elaborately  ingenious  speculation,  enforcing  the  analogy 
of  many  illustrious  writers,  as  forming  a  secret  society  of 
anti-Catholic  thought,  with  the  doctrines  of  Gnosticism  and 
Freemasonry  (Rossetti  was  himself  a  Freemason).  This  book 
was  printed  and  prepared  for  publication,  but  was  withheld 


1 6  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

(partly  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Frere)  as  likely  to  be  accounted 
rash  and  subversive.  1842— La  Beatrice  di  Dante,  contending 
that  Dante's  Beatrice  was  a  symbolic  personage,  not  a  real 
woman.  1846—//  Veggente  in  Solitudine  {The  Seer  in 
Solitude),  a  poem  of  patriotic  aim,  in  a  discursive  and  rhap- 
sodical form,  embodying  a  good  deal  of  autobiography  and 
of  earlier  material.  It  circulated  largely  though  clandestinely 
in  Italy,  and  a  medal  of  Rossetti  was  struck  there  in  com- 
memoration. 1847 — Versi  (miscellaneous  poems).  1852 — 
LArpa  Evangelica  {The  Evangelic  Harp),  religious  poems. 

As  regards  my  father's  writings  on  Dante  and  other 
authors — the  outcome  of  an  immense  amount  of  miscellaneous, 
often  curious  and  abstruse,  reading — I  may  be  allowed  to 
say  that  I  regard  his  views  and  arguments  as  cogent,  without 
being  convincing.  They  affect  one  more  in  beginning  one 
of  his  books  than  in  ending  it.  He  certainly  made  some 
mistakes,  and  urged  some  details  to  a  wiredrawn  or  futile 
extreme,  and  in  especial  he  was  not  sufficiently  master  of 
the  happy  instinct  when  to  leave  off,  so  that  his  longest 
and  most  important  book,  the  Mistero  deW  Amor  Platonico, 
becomes  cumbrous  with  subsidiary  matter.  In  his  poems 
also  he  was  over-fond  of  amplifying  and  loading,  being  too 
unwilling  to  leave  a  composition  as  it  stood ;  though  he  wrote 
with  great  mastery  and  ease,  and  a  brilliant  command  of 
metre,  rhythm,  and  melody.  Many  snatches  of  his  verse 
are  forcible  and  moving  in  a  high  degree,  and  rouse  a  con- 
tagious enthusiasm.  He  has  left  in  MS.  a  versified  account 
of  his  life,  written  between  1846  and  1851.  It  is  not  long, 
nor  yet  very  short,  and  is  about  the  completest  as  well  as 
the  most  authentic  account  that  exists  of  his  career.  I  should 
like  to  translate  it  some  day,  and  publish  it  in  England. 

To  give  some  idea  of  Rossetti's  poetry,  I  cannot  do  better 
than  extract  here  one  of  the  remarks  upon  it  made  by  the 
pre-eminent  Italian  poet  of  our  own  day,  Giosue  Carducci, 
in  a  selection  from  Rossetti  which  he  edited  in  1861. 
Carducci,  after  contrasting  him  with  some  of  his  contemporary 
writers,  terms  him — 


PARENTAGE.  1 7 

"The  singer  who,  notwithstanding  his  defects,  conforms  the  most 
to  the  poetic  taste  and  the  hacmonic  faculty  of  the  Italian  people. 
No  plethora  of  murky  inventions,  and  of  recondite  and  strange 
forms,  and  of  versified  disquisitions,  and  of  nebulous  swathings  ;  but 
a  daring  and  serene  fancy,  impetus  of  emotion,  plenteousness  and 
sometimes  superabundance  of  colouring,  facility,  harmony,  melody, 
make  these  poems  truly  Italian,  make  them  singable.  Singable,  I 
say;  and  I  know  that  this  praise  may,  in  the  opinion  of  some, 
amount  to  blame,  now  that  for  the  most  part  singable  poetry  is 
of  the  worst." 

Not  in  Vasto  alone,  but  in  all  Italy,  Rossetti's  reputation 
as  a  patriotic  poet  stood  high — more  perhaps  among  the 
men  of  action  and  the  ardent  youth  than  among  the  critical 
assessors  of  literary  merit.  A  proposal  was  made  to  transfer 
his  remains  to  a  sepulchre  in  Italy,  as  an  act  of  national 
recognition.  My  mother  having  demurred,  an  inscription 
was  set  up  to  him  in  the  Florentine  cloister  of  Santa  Croce, 
which  counts  as  the  Italian  Walhalla  or  Westminster  Abbey. 
In  Vasto  the  centenary  of  his  birth  was  celebrated  in  1883 
with  much  evidence  of  enthusiasm.  The  principal  Piazza 
(del  Pesce,  as  first  entitled)  and  the  Communal  Theatre  are 
named  after  him  ;  and  it  has  long  been  proposed — though 
perhaps  rather  half-heartedly — to  erect  his  statue,  and  to 
purchase  for  the  town  the  house  in  a  part  of  which  he  was 
born — an  ancient  and  somewhat  stately-looking  though 
plain  edifice,  battered  by  time  and  neglect.  I  am  tempted 
to  extract  here  a  few  of  the  many  eulogiums  pronounced 
upon  Rossetti  at  the  centenary — not  unconscious,  however, 
of  the  caution  with  which  any  utterances  on  such  an  occasion 
are  to  be  received. 

From  the  speech  of  Professor  Francesco  di  Rosso  : — 

"  He  then  conceived  that  love  of  his  oppressed  country,  and  that 
indignation  against  the  oppressors,  which  were  to  be  (as  I  may  say)  the 
religion  of  his  entire  life,  and  were  to  dictate  to  him  the  most  beautiful 
strains,  and  make  him  the  Tyrtaeus  of  the  battles  of  the  Italian 
liberty,  unity,  and  independence,  the  poet  sacred  to  Italy  and  Europe 
labouring  under  tyranny,  under  political  and  religious  re-action." 

VOL.  I.  2 


1 8  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

From  the  speech  of  the  sub-prefect  Cavalier  Domenico 
Fabretti  : — 

"  Many  were  the  public-spirited  poets  of  Italy  :  but  none  con- 
jectured the  cycle  of  her  evolution,  shadowed  forth  its  agents,  designed 
its  forms,  with  the  forecasting  precision,  the  exact  intuition,  of  your 
Rossetti.  He  was  not  only  the  sweet  poet  of  the  Arcadian  stylus, 
was  not  only  the  studious  and  elegant  verse-writer,  was  not  only  the 
fervent  patriot,  but  was  the  seer  of  the  Italian  re-arising." 

From  a  pamphlet  by  signor  Adelfo  Mayo,1  addressed  to 
the  workmen  of  Vasto  : — 

"  You,  citizens  and  workmen,  will  deserve  well  of  your  country  if 
you  will  imitate  the  domestic  and  civil  virtues  of  that  great  man, 
if  you  strive  with  all  your  efforts  to  preserve  intact  the  sacred  deposit 
of  the  Italian  liberties  under  the  sceptre  of  the  Kings  of  Savoy,  and 
if  you  also  co-operate,  as  best  you  may,  in  raising  a  worthy  monument 
to  one  who,  conferring  honour  upon  our  city,  has  honoured  likewise 
the  Abruzzi  and  the  entire  peninsula." 

In  England  very  little  has  got  into  print  showing  Gabriele 
Rossetti  "  in  his  habit  as  he  lived."  There  are,  however,  two 
recent  books  which  give  an  idea  of  him  in  his  later  years,  and 
in  each  instance  the  idea  is  a  true  one  as  far  as  it  goes.  Mr. 
William  Bell  Scott's  Autobiographical  Notes  (1892)  contain 
the  following  passage,  relating  to  the  close  of  1847  or 
beginning  of  1848  : — 

"  I  entered  the  small  front  parlour  or  dining-room  of  the  house 
[50  Charlotte  Street],  and  found  an  old  gentleman  sitting  by  the 
fire  in  a  great  chair,  the  table  drawn  close  to  his  chair,  with  a  thick 
manuscript  book  open  before  him,  and  the  largest  snuff-box  I  ever 
saw  beside  it  conveniently  open.  He  had  a  black  cap  on  his  head 
furnished  with  a  great  peak  or  shade  for  the  eyes,  so  that  I  saw  his 
face  only  partially.  .  .  .  The  old  gentleman  signed  to  a  chair  for 

1  With  this  fine-minded  and  cultivated  gentleman,  well  meriting  his 
high  position  in  the  Vastese  community,  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of 
keeping  up  some  correspondence  ever  since  the  date  of  the  centenary 
meeting. 


PARENTAGE.  1 9 

my  sitting  down,  and  explained  that  his  son  was  now  painting  in  the 
studio  he  and  a  young  friend  had  taken  together :  this  young  friend's 
name  was  Holman  Hunt.1  .  .  .  The  old  gentleman's  pronunciation 
of  English  was  very  Italian ;  and,  though  I  did  not  know  that,  both 
of  them — he  and  his  daughter  [Christina] — were  probably  at  that 
moment  writing  poetry  of  some  sort,  and  might  wish  me  far  enough, 
I  left  very  soon." 

The  second  portrait  of  my  father,  and  a  very  good  one  it 
is,  is  traced  by  Mr.  Frederic  George  Stephens  in  his  mono- 
graph named  Daiite  Gabriel  Ross&tti  ( 1 894) :  it  shows  a 
memory  highly  retentive  of  characterizing  details  : — 

"  As  might  be  expected  of  one  possessing  so  many  accomplish- 
ments, and  whose  career  had  been  marked  by  so  much  courage,  the 
Professor  was  a  man  of  striking  character  and  aspect ;  so  that,  when 
I  was  introduced  to  him  in  1848  [some  few  months  perhaps  after 
Mr.  Scott's  first  visit  to  our  house],  and  his  grand  climacteric  was 
past,  and  (as  with  most  Italians)  a  life  of  studies  told  upon  him 
heavily,  I  could  not  but  be  struck  with  the  noble  energy  of  his 
face,  and  by  the  high  culture  his  expression  attested,  while  a  sort 
of  eager,  almost  passionate  resolution  seemed  to  glow  in  all  he  said 
and  did.  To  a  youngster,  such  as  I  was  then,  he  seemed  much 
older  than  his  years  ;  and,  while  seated  reading  at  a  table  with  two 
candles  behind  him,  and  (because  his  sight  was  failing)  with  a  wide 
shade  over  his  eyes,  he  looked  a  very  Rembrandt  come  to  life. 
The  light  was  reflected  from  a  manuscript  placed  close  to  his  face, 
and,  in  the  shadow  which  covered  them,  made  distinct  all  the 
fineness  and  vigour  of  his  sharply  moulded  features.  It  was  half 
lost  upon  his  somewhat  shrunken  figure  wrapped  in  a  student's 
dressing-gown,  and  shone  fully  upon  the  lean,  bony,  and  delicate 

1  According  to  Mr.  Scott,  this  was  his  first  call  at  No.  50  Charlotte 
Street,  and  the  interview  took  place  "about  Christmas  1847-48."  I 
consider  that  the  correct  date  of  his  first  call  was  in  December  1847  or 
January  1848.  But  Mr.  Scott's  memory  must  have  been  entirely  wrong  as 
to  his  then  hearing  about  the  studio  shared  by  Holman  Hunt  and  Dante 
Rossetti,  for  there  was  no  such  sharing  of  any  studio  until  late  in  August 
1848,  and  the  words  put  into  our  father's  mouth,  if  spoken  at  all,  must 
have  been  spoken  later  than  "  about  Christmas  1847-48."  Ex  tiuo  disce 
multos. 


20  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

hands  in  which  he  held  the  paper.  He  looked  like  an  old  and 
somewhat  imperative  prophet,  and  his  voice  had  a  slightly  rigorous 
ring,  speaking  to  his  sons  and  their  visitors." 

I  am  not  sure  that  the  word  "  rigorous  "  would  here  convey- 
quite  the  right  impression.  My  father's  address  in  such  cases 
was  clear  and  emphatic,  and  as  if  no  dissent  were  expected 
to  ensue ;  but  it  was  not  marked  by  anything  hard  or 
brusque. 

Good-natured  and  indulgent'  though  he  in  fact  was,  and 
animated  with  the  most  resolute  desire  to  do  his  very  best  for 
the  present  and  future  of  his  children,  our  love  nevertheless 
was  chiefly  concentrated  upon  our  mother — and  never  did 
mother  deserve  it  better.  This  preference  may  have  been 
rather  less  marked  in  my  elder  sister  Maria  than  with  the 
rest  of  us.  Frances  Mary  Lavinia  Polidori  was  born  in 
London,  42  Broad  Street,  Golden  Square  (the  same  street  in 
which  William  Blake  had  been  born  forty- three  years  before), 
on  27  April  1800.  Thus  she  was  seventeen  years  younger 
than  her  husband.  Of  her  parents  I  shall  say  something  in 
my  next  Section.  She  was  brought  up  with  a  view  to  her 
becoming  a  governess  ;  and  at  the  early  age  of  sixteen  she 
took  charge  of  her  first  pupil,  the  adopted  daughter  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Dickins,  of  Vale  Lodge,  Leatherhead,  Surrey.  I 
have  heard  my  mother  say  that  in  this  house  she  used  to  see 
from  time  to  time  John  Shelley,  the  brother  of  the  poet.  He 
was  a  very  handsome  youth,  aged  then  some  thirteen  or  four- 
teen, and  all  mention  of  the  name  of  that  world-abandoned 
rebel,  the  versifying  atheist,  was  strictly  forbidden.  Hence 
my  mother  passed  into  the  families  of  Mr.  Justice  Bolland 
(whom  she  highly  respected),  and  of  Sir  Patrick  Macgregor. 
One  of  her  pupils,  Miss  Georgina  Macgregor,  became  the 
second  godmother  of  my  sister,  Christina  Georgina.  A  brother 
of  Sir  Patrick,  a  Colonel,  fell  not  a  little  in  love  with  Miss 
Polidori.  Whether  this  highly  estimable  gentleman  (as  such 
he  was  always  represented  to  me)  would  have  made  up  his 
mind  to  "  proposing  for  the  governess  "  I  am  unable  to  say ; 
but  anyhow   he  was  forestalled    by  the  Neapolitan  refugee 


By  D.  G.  Rossetti. 


Gabriele   Rossetti. 


PARENTAGE.  21 

Rossetti,  who  rapidly  won  the  damsel's  heart,  and  was 
promptly  accepted.  The  marriage  proved  a  truly  happy  one, 
spite  of  narrow  circumstances,  and  the  harrassing  troubles 
of  my  father's  long  illnesses  and  decay.  On  his  side  there  was 
deep  unwavering  affection,  and  the  most  absolute  esteem  and 
confidence  ;  on  hers,  affection  and  confidence  in  no  less 
measure,  and  a  cordial  admiration  for  his  uncommon  gifts 
and  attainments. 

Mrs.  Rossetti  was  well  bred  and  well  educated,  a  constant 
reader,  full  of  clear  perception  and  sound  sense  on  a  variety 
of  subjects,  and  perfectly  qualified  to  hold  her  own  in  society  ; 
a  combination  of  abnormal   modesty   of  self-estimate  (free, 
however,  from  the    silliness   or    insincerity  of  self-disparage- 
ment), and    of  retirement    and    repose   of  character,   and   of 
devotion  to  home  duties,  kept  her  back.    The  idea  of  "  making 
an  impression  "  never  appeared  to  present  itself  to  her  mind — 
still  less  the  idea  of  outshining  or  rivalling  any  one  else.     I 
doubt  whether  in  the  whole  course  of  my  life  I  once  saw  her 
go  out  to  an  ordinary  "  evening  party."     Perfect  simplicity  of 
thought,  speech,  and    manner,    characterized    her    always ;    I 
venture  to  think  that  it  was  dignity  under  another  name.    For 
conscientiousness,  veracity,  the  keeping  confidences  inviolate, 
the  utter  absence  of  censoriousness  or  tittle-tattle,  she  was  an 
absolute  model :  all  this  came  so  natural  to  her  that  it  passed 
almost  unnoticed,  or  seemed  a  matter  of  course.     Day  and 
night   she    attended    to    the    household — doing    needlework, 
teaching  her  girls,  keeping  things  in  order,  etc.     In  all  the 
central  years  of  her  life  there  was  only  one  servant  in  the 
house.     She    was    deeply    but    unpretentiously    religious,    a 
member  of  the  Church  of  England,  very  constant  in  church- 
attendance.     In  my  earlier  years  she  might  be  regarded  as 
belonging  rather  to  the  "  Evangelical "  branch  of  the  Church, 
but  later  on  her  associations  grew  to  be  of  the  "  high  church  " 
kind.      This    only   made   a   difference   of    habitude,   not   of 
essentials.     She    took   a   reasonable    interest   in    matters   of 
politics,  her  sympathies  being  on  the  Liberal  side.     She  wrote 
correctly  in  prose,  and  some  few  times  even  in  verse  ;  but 


22  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

without  having,  at  any  time  of  her  life,  any  notion  of  doing 
aught  for  publication.  I  have  heard  that  in  youth  she  was 
considered  rather  a  "  quiz "  (as  the  phrase  then  ran),  or  a 
person  with  a  sharp  eye  for  'the  ridiculous  in  others.  Of  this 
I  myself  remember  few  symptoms  or  none  ;  but  certainly  she 
knew  a  pretender  or  a  humbug  when  she  saw  one,  and  could 
express  her  perception  by  clear  word  of  mouth.  With  all 
the  reserve  of  her  character,  her  total  want  of  forwardness, 
her  mostly  unspoken  scorn  of  semblances  which  have  not 
realities  behind  them,  there  was  nothing  about  her  of  the 
merely  stolid  or  negative  ;  her  feelings  were  warm,  and  even 
her  temper  might  have  been  less  unruffled  than  it  was,  but 
for  a  life-long  practice  of  moderating  self-control.  She  was 
just,  liberal,  kind,  forgiving,  steadfast.  A  son  who  has  any 
evil  to  say  of  his  mother  might  feel  embarrassed  until  he  had 
managed  to  say  it  mildly :  I  am  spared  any  such  embarrass- 
ment. To  sum  up — she  was  one  of  the  most  womanly  of 
women. 

My  mother  once  said — it  may  have  been  towards  1872  or 
1873  :  "  I  always  had  a  passion  for  intellect,  and  my  wish  was 
that  my  husband  should  be  distinguished  for  intellect,  and 
my  children  too.  I  have  had  my  wish  [and  this  she  might 
well  say  in  reference  to  her  elder  son  and  her  younger 
daughter,  not  to  bring  the  remaining  two  into  question]  ;  and 
I  now  wish  that  there  were  a  little  less  intellect  in  the  family, 
so  as  to  allow  for  a  little  more  common  sense."  I  have 
always  set  store  by  that  utterance  of  my  mother,  as  equally 
sound  and  characteristic. 

Frances  Rossetti  was  of  an  ordinary  female  middle  height, 
or  a  trifle  less  than  that,1  with  a  full-sized  head,  fresh  com- 
plexion,   features    more    than    commonly    regular,    shapely 

1  Miss  Hall  Caine,  in  her  pleasant  article  A  Child's  Recollections  of 
Rossetti,  in  the  New  Review  for  September  1894,  describes  my  mother 
as  "very  little."  This  is  a  mistake.  Miss  Caine  only  saw  my  mother  in 
the  early  part  of  1882,  when  the  latter  was  nearly  eighty-two  years  of 
age.  Her  figure  had  then  fallen  in,  and  she  looked  short ;  but  the  state- 
ment in  my  text  is  the  correct  one. 


PARENTAGE.  23 

Madonna-like  eyelids,  and  an  air  of  innate  composure.  Her 
general  aspect  was  English,  not  Italian.  Her  eyes  were  grey, 
her  hair  in  youth  abundant  and  pretty,  worn  then  in  long 
ringlets,  of  a  full-tinted  brown.  It  altered  colour  but  little, 
even  in  her  extreme  old  age  ;  and  she  always  looked  to  me — 
and  I  believe  to  others— some  five  or  six  years  younger  than 
she  was.  Her  voice  was  extremely  clear  and  uniform,  excel- 
lent for  reading.  There  is  a  good  likeness  of  her  in  one  of 
Sir  John  Millais's  pictures — the  Departure  of  the  Crusaders, 
painted  towards  1856. 

After  the  definite  failure  of  my  father's  health,  or  from 
about  1844  until  his  death  in  1854,  the  chief  support  of  the 
family  devolved  upon  my  mother — the  eldest  child,  Maria, 
being  in  1844  only  seventeen  years  of  age.  My  mother 
made  great  and  most  laudable  efforts — going  out  to  teach 
French  and  Italian  (both  of  which  she  knew  and  spoke 
perfectly  well)  and  other  things,  and  afterwards  holding 
precarious  day-schools — at  No.  38  Arlington  Street,  Morn- 
ington  Crescent  (our  residence  for  a  year  or  two  beginning 
in  1 851),  and  at  Frome  Selwood.  The  schools  produced  no 
income  of  any  account  ;  and  my  mother's  small 'expectations 
(from  the  property  left  by  her  maternal  grandfather),  and 
then  her  small  capital,  had  to  be  trenched  upon.  After  her 
return  however  from  Frome,  in  1854,  it  no  longer  became 
necessary  for  her  to  exert  herself ;  she  continued  living  with 
me  and  my  two  sisters,  and  in  1876  removed  with  Christina 
to  another  house,  30  Torrington  Square.  In  her  later  years 
her  hearing  was  imperfect,  though  by  no  means  gone,  and 
her  general  strength  abated  considerably.  Her  mind  remained 
always  clear,  but  necessarily  less  strong  with  the  inroads  of 
age.  She  died,  rather  of  gradual  decline  than  of  anything 
else,  on  8  April  1886,  the  very  day  which  completed  four 
years  after  the  death  of  Dante  Gabriel.  Had  she  lived  a  few 
more  days,  she  would  have  been  eighty-six  years  of  age.  She 
rests  by  her  husband's  side  in  Highgate  Cemetery. 

I  have  observed  that  my  mother  "  wrote  correctly  in  prose, 
and  some  few  times  even  in  verse."     It  has  lately  been  my 


24  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

melancholy  task  to  hunt  through  drawers,  pigeon-holes,  etc., 
in  the  house  (30  Torrington  Square)  occupied  by  my  sister 
Christina — of  memory  gracious  to  many — up  to  the  date  of 
her  death,  29  December  1894.  I  came  upon  a  little  red 
writing-case,  given  by  Dante  Rossetti  to  our  mother  in  1849  > 
in  the  writing-case  were  these  verses  of  her  composition. 
They  are  dated  1876,  the  year  when  my  sister  Maria  Francesca 
died  ;  after  Dante's  death  in  1882  a  final  couplet  was  added. 
To  me  the  lines,  recording  a  succession  of  family  losses,  are 
pathetic  ;  they  come  from  a  heart  full  of  affection.  Perhaps 
the  reader  will  think  it  ridiculous  that  I  should  print  them  ; 
at  worst,  the  ridicule  will  apply  to  me  alone,  and  not  to  the 
writer,  who  in  youth  and  age  kept  all  such  things  very  much 
to  herself. 

"  No  longer  I  hear  the  welcome  sound 

Of  Father's  foot  upon  the  ground ; 

No  longer  see  the  loving  face 

Of  Mother  beam  with  kindly  grace ; 

No  longer  hear  '  how  I  rejoice ' 

At  sight  of  me,  from  Sister's  voice  ;  ' 

No  more  from  Husband  loved  will  be  a 

'  Cara  Francesca,  moglie  mia  ' ; 

And  from  dear  Daughter  sore  I  miss 

'My  dearest  Dodo,'2  and  her  kiss: — 

I  never  more  shall  hear  him  speak, 

The  dearly  loved  who  called  me  '  Tique.' " 3 

III. 

RELATIVES. 

FRANCES  ROSSETTI  was  the  daughter  of  Gaetano  Polidori, 
and  of  Anna  Maria  Polidori,  nee  Pierce. 

My  maternal  great-grandfathers  were  both  born  an  immense 
time  ago  ;  Agostino  Ansaldo  Polidori  in  17 14,  and  William 
Pierce   in    1736:  strange  to    think   of.     Even    my   maternal 

1  This  was  Margaret,  who  died  in  1867. 

2  A  pet  name  much  used  by  Maria  for  her  mother. 

3  Dante  Gabriel  was  addicted  to  calling  his  mother,  in  her  later  years, 
"the  Antique,"  or  simply  "  Antique,"  shortened  sometimes  into  "  Tique." 


RELATIVES.  2$ 

grandfather  dates  as  far  back  as  1764,  and  my  grandmother 
as  far  back  as  1769.  The  year  17 14  witnessed  the  accession 
of  George  I.  to  the  British  throne ;  1736,  the  death  of  Prince 
Eugene;  1764,  the  death  of  Hogarth;  1769,  the  publication 
of  the  first  Letter  of  Junius. 

The  name  Polidori  is  of  course  Greek,  not  Italian  ;  but  of 
any  Greek  ancestry  which  there  may  possibly  have  been  I 
know  nothing.  The  Polidori  family,  so  far  as  I  ever  heard 
of  it,  was  Tuscan,  the  profession  of  medicine  being  customary 
from  father  to  son  ;  authorship  was  also  frequent  in  the  race, 
at  any  rate  in  the  later  generations.  Agostino  Ansaldo, 
author  of  two  poems,  Tobias  and  Osteology  (the  latter  has  been 
privately  printed),  was  a  Doctor  settled  at  Bientina  near 
Pisa  :  here  was  born  his  son  Gaetano.  There  was  also  a 
brother  of  Agostino,  named  Francesco.  He  produced  a  poem 
entitled  Losario  (privately  printed),  more  or  less  in  the  vein 
of  Ariosto.  Gaetano  was  intended. for  the  law,  which  he 
studied  in  the  University  of  Pisa.  In  1785,  however,  he  deserted 
the  law,  and,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Abate  Fassini, 
became  secretary  to  the  famous  tragedian  Conte  Alfieri,  with 
whom  he  stayed  at  Brisach,  Colmar,  and  Paris.  Naturally 
he  saw,  along  with  Alfieri,  the  Countess  of  Albany,  whose 
husband,  "the  Young  Pretender,"  was  then  still  living. 
Polidori  was  in  Paris  at  the  taking  of  the  Bastille  in  July  1789  ; 
and  a  little  anecdote  which  he  relates  of  that  day  may  deserve 
reproduction  here  : — 

"  I  was  passing  by  the  Palais  Royal  while  the  populace  were 
running  to  assault  the  fortress ;  and,  having  encountered  a  highly- 
powdered  wig-maker,  with  a  rusty  sword  raised  aloft,  I,  not  expecting 
any  such  thing,  and  hardly  conscious  of  the  act,  had  the  sword 
handed  over  to  me,  as  he  cried  aloud — '  Prenez,  citoyen,  combattez 
pour  la  patrie?  I  had  no  fancy  for  such  an  enterprise  ;  so,  finding 
myself  sword  in  hand,  T  at  once  cast  about  for  some  way  to  get  rid 
of  it ;  and,  bettering  my  instruction  from  the  man  of  powder,  I  stuck 
it  into  the  hand  of  the  first  unarmed  person  I  met ;  and,  repeating, 
'  Prenez,  citoyen,  combattez  pour  la  patrie]  I  passed  on  and  returned 
home." 


26  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Polidori  (as  he  intimates)  had  no  taste  for  political 
convulsions,  and  little  for  politics  of  any  sort.  Almost 
immediately  afterwards  Alfieri  got  put  out  at  finding  that 
on  a  single  occasion  his  secretary  was  not  at  home  when 
summoned,  and  the  Count  wrote  him  a  note,  asking  him  "  to 
change  his  style,  or  else  his  dwelling."  Polidori,  one  of  the 
least  pliable  of  mortals,  closed  at  once  with  the  second  alter- 
native, and  determined  to  clear  out  of  France,  and  repair  to 
England  to  teach  Italian.  He  asked  for  and  readily  obtained 
three  letters  of  introduction  from  Alfieri  and  the  Countess  of 
Albany.  These  were  addressed  to  Mrs.  Cosway,  the  painter, 
Captain  Masseria,  a  relative  of  Napoleon,  and  the  famous 
Corsican  General  De'  Paoli.  The  last  remained  up  to  his 
death  on  intimate  terms  with  Polidori,  and  left  him  a  mourning 
ring,  which  I  now  possess.  In  1791  Alfieri,  then  in  France, 
wished  to  get  Polidori  back  as  his  secretary ;  but  the  latter 
declined  with  thanks,  preferring  conservative  England  very 
much  to  revolutionary  France. 

In  February  1793  Polidori  married  -Miss  Anna  Maria 
Pierce,  who  had  acted  as  a  governess.  He  taught  Italian  for 
a  great  number  of  years,  retiring  in  1836,  after  having  made 
a  fair  moderate  competence.  He  then  lived  for  a  while  wholly 
in  Buckinghamshire — Holmer  Green,  near  Little  Missenden, 
in  a  house  which  he  had  purchased  years  before  for  personal 
and  family  convenience — but  in  1839  he  returned  to  London, 
Park  Village  East,  Regent's  Park.  There  he  died  of  apoplexy 
in  December  1853,  aged  eighty-nine. 

My  anecdote  about  the  wig-maker  and  the  sword  is  taken 
from  a  little  narrative  which  Polidori  wrote,  as  an  appendix 
to  one  of  his  privately  printed  books  ;  for  he  kept  a  printing- 
press  in  Park  Village  East,  and  there  he  produced,  with  some 
aid  from  practical  hands,  several  volumes  of  his  own  works, 
and  a  few  others.  Dante  Rossetti's  boyish  poem  Sir  Hugh 
the  Heron,  and  Christina's  Verses,  were  among  these — printed 
respectively  in  1843  and  1847.  Another  was  the  poem  by 
Erasmo  di  Valvasone,  L  Angeleida .;  with  passages  extracted 
by  Polidori  from  Milton's  Paradise  Lost,  presumably  founded 


RELATIVES.  27 

more  or  less  upon  this  Italian  poem.  The  personal  narrative 
above  mentioned  relates  chiefly  to  Alfieri,  and  contains 
several  particulars  of  some  interest.  I  give  here  a  few  of  the 
general  observations  upon  him  : — 

"  Curious  and  strange  was  the  character  of  that  singular  man  : 
proud  as  Milton's  Satan,  and  more  choleric  than  Homer's  Achilles. 
He  esteemed  himself  far  beyond  his  real  worth,  and  very  few  were 
the  poets  or  men  of  letters  for  whom  he  had  any  regard.  He  was 
proud  of  his  reddish  hair,  which  he  always  wore  studiously  curled 
and  tended ;  of  his  fine  and  speckless  apparel,  and  especially  of  his 
uniform  as  a  captain  in  the  Piedmontese  Infantry,  which  he  donned 
for  more  solemn  occasions ;  of  his  pure  gold  buckles  for  shoes 
and  breeches,  as  then  worn  ;  of  his  handsome  English  horses,  of 
which,  counting  together  saddle  and  carriage  horses,  he  had  sixteen  ; 
and  of  his  fine  and  elegant  phaeton,  which  he  generally  drove  four- 
in-hand,  and  went  in  pomp,  taking  the  air  in  city  and  high-road. 
Yet,  amid  many  defects,  Count  Alfieri  had  some  good  qualities  : 
that  of  paying  his  debts  most  punctually,  of  limiting  his  outlay  so 
that  at  the  end  of  the  year  some  money  remained  over,  rather  than 
be  indebted  for  a  penny,  and  of  being  just,  when  justice  was  clear  to 
him.  As  I  never  had  to  dispute  with  him,  in  four  years  that  I  was 
in  his  house,  save  with  the  reason  on  my  side,  and,  whenever  we 
had  disputed,  he,  upon  recognizing  that  he  was  in  the  wrong,  had 
confessed  it  and  taken  the  blame  to  himself,  I  esteemed  and  loved 
him  [various  anecdotes  had  been  previously  given  in  the  narrative, 
amply  confirming  this  statement  as  to  disputes  between  Alfieri  and 
his  secretary].  .  .  .  In  1789  began  the  French  Revolution,  in  which 
he  exulted,  and  I  saw  him  leap  with  joy  upon  the  ruins  of  the 
Bastille." 

It  is  matter  of  notoriety,  however,  that  after  a  while  Alfieri 
entirely  altered  his  view  of  French  affairs,  and  became  a 
Gallophobist  of  prime  virulence. 

Polidori  was  a  man  of  good  stature  and  very  vigorous 
build  ;  his  health  was  strong,  and  his  faculties  not  seriously 
impaired  by  age.  He  liked  almost  any  occupation — writing, 
reading,  cabinet-work  (he  produced  many  pretty  boxes, 
tables,  etc.,   in   wood-mosaic,  after   the    Florentine   manner), 


28  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

and  miscellaneous  country  work.  He  was  a  man  of  the  most 
sturdy  and  independent  character,  a  sworn  enemy  to  pretence 
and  frivolity  of  all  sorts  ;  for  instance,  he  would  not  allow  any 
of  his  daughters  to  learn  dancing.  He  always  remained 
nominally  a  Roman-catholic,  but  without  taking  any  part  in 
religious  observances  of  whatsoever  kind.  For  his  son-in- 
law  Rossetti  he  had  a  sincere  liking,  and  owned  his  great 
superiority  to  himself  as  a  poet.  But  the  divergence  between 
them  was  frequently  marked  in  little  things  :  Polidori  solid, 
unbending,  somewhat  dogged  ;  Rossetti  not  any  less  earnest 
in  essentials,  but  vivacious,  facile,  with  more  grace  of  manner 
and  feeling,  and  comparatively  mercurial.  As  a  grandfather 
Polidori  was  both  kind  and  tolerant,  and  was  looked  up  to 
by  us  with  much  warmth  of  regard. 

Gaetano  Polidori  had  all  the  habits  and  likings  of  a  literary 
man,  and  was  more  decidedly  bookish  than  my  father. 
Like  the  latter,  he  was  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  the 
Arcadi,  and  bore  the  high-sounding  designation  of  "  Fileremo 
Etrusco."  I  possess  his  Arcadian  diploma,  a  curious  docu- 
ment. He  wrote  a  large  number  of  things  in  prose  and  verse, 
both  published,  privately  printed,  and  unprinted.  His  first 
work  was  a  poem,  U Infedelta  Punita  {Faithlessness  Punished). 
Among  the  others  are  —  Novelle  Morali  {Moral  Tales) ; 
Grammaire  de  la  Langue  Ltalie?me  ;  A  Dictionary  in  three 
v61umes,  Italian  with  French  and  English,  French  with 
Italian  and  English,  and  English  with  Italian  and  French — 
a  very  handy  little  book,  and  no  doubt  no  small  labour  to 
its  compiler ;  Translation  of  all  Milton's  Poems ;  Trans- 
lation of  Lucan's  Pharsalia.  with  a  sequel  of  his  own ; 
Tragedie  e  Drammi.  Unprinted  is  a  Life  of  Boccaccio, 
written  in  English,  which  my  grandfather  knew  and  spoke 
well.  This  MS.  I  possess  ;  likewise  an  Italian  Life  of 
General  de  Paoli,  up  to  his  return  to  Corsica  during  the 
French  Revolution — a  work  which,  considering  Polidori's 
intimacy  with  his  hero,  might  be  of  some  worth. 

As  I  have  already  said,  the  wife  of  Gaetano  Polidori  was 
Anna  Maria  Pierce ;  and  I  will  now  give  some  few  particulars 


RELATIVES.  29 

about  the  Pierce  family,  which  is,  as  will  be  perceived,  the 
only  source  from  which  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  had  any 
English  blood  in  his  veins. 

I  know  nothing  of  the  Pierces  beyond  Richard  Pierce,  my 
great-great-grandfather,  who  was  a  schoolmaster  in  Burlington 
Gardens,  London.  He  had  a  son,  William,  a  writing-master, 
who  maintained  himself  from  the  age  of  sixteen  onwards, 
married  twice,  and  had  ten  children.  William  Pierce  (I 
referred  to  this  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  Section)  was 
born  as  far  back  as  1736  ;  and  it  would  appear  that  the 
vocation  of  a  writing-master  must  in  his  prime  have  been  far 
more  lucrative  than  it  is  at  present,  for  he  made  a  very  com- 
fortable competence  (the  chief  source  of  whatever  money 
there  has  been  in  the  family  since  his  time),  and  "kept  his 
carriage."  Possibly  his  first  marriage  (which  seems  to  have 
been  into  a  grade  somewhat  above  his  own)  had  to  do  with 
this  result.  He  was  always  represented  to  me  as  a  curiously 
well-preserved  specimen  of  "  the  old  school "  ;  formal,  precise, 
upright,  rather  formidable  to  a  younger  generation,  yet  kind 
too  in  his  way.  Among  his  grandchildren  he  had  a  special 
predilection  for  my  mother  ;  though  like  a  good  British  Tory 
as  he  was,  he  thought  it  "  very  odd  "  that,  after  his  daughter 
Anna  Maria  had  married  one  foreigner,  his  grand-daughter 
Frances  should  marry  another  foreigner.  It  looked  like  flying 
in  the  face  of  the  blessed  shades  of  a  Chatham,  Wolfe,  Nelson, 
and  George  III.,  and  truckling  to  the  far  from  blessed  shades 
of  a  Voltaire,  a  Mirabeau,  and  a  Bonaparte,  not  to  speak  of 
the  Pope  of  Rome.  Mr.  Pierce  had  in  fact  a  strong  feeling 
against  marriages  with  foreigners,  as  his  favourite  sister  had 
made  a  marriage  of  this  kind  which  proved  very  unhappy 
He  died  in  1829,  aged  ninety-three,  shortly  before  my  birth  ; 
and  after  him  I  was  named  William.  His  ten  children,  other 
than  Mrs.  Polidori,  shall  not  concern  us  here ;  except  to  say 
that  one  of  his  sons,  Frederick,  became  a  Brigadier-General, 
and  was  highly  esteemed,  I  believe,  in  the  Army  of  India. 
I  will  also  observe  in  passing  that,  through  the  first  wife  of 
William  Pierce,  Jane  Arrow,  and  a  brother  and  sister  of  hers, 


30  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

the  present  generation  of  Rossettis  are  some  sort  of  cousins 
to  that  distinguished  cleric,  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Kempe,  of  St. 
James's  Church,  London,  and  also  to  the  late  Mrs.  Eliza 
Anna  Bray,  whose  first  husband  was  a  son  of  the  painter 
Thomas  Stothard.  She  published  a  Life  of  Stothard,  various 
romances,  tales  of  Devonshire  life,  an  Autobiography,  and 
other  works.  My  uncle  Henry  Polydore  once  took  the  pains 
of  drawing  out  a  scanty  pedigree  of  the  Pierce  and  Arrow 
families ;  and  I  find  in  it,  as  connected  by  marriage,  the 
surnames  Wrather,  Hunter,  Maunsell,  Le  Mesurier,  Jump, 
Lester,  Porter,  Hutchins,  Mose,  Kitchener,  Austin,  Cooper, 
Sandrock,  and  Brown  (nothing  to  do  with  Madox  Brown). 
These  surnames — except  Wrather,  Austin,  and  Brown — repre- 
sent nothing  to  my  memory.  Of  the  Austins  I  have  some 
direct  or  collateral  knowledge.  There  was  a  Bishop  Austin 
in  the  West  Indies,  and  an  Austin  Governor  of  Honduras ; 
and  in  1887  at  San  Remo  I  met  a  very  pleasant  young  lady, 
Miss  Burrows  (now  Mrs.  Martin),  who  informed  me  that  she 
was  some  connexion  of  mine — I  believe  through  the  Austin 
family. 

As  I  have  said,  my  great-grandfather,  William  Pierce, 
married  a  Miss  Jane  Arrow.  My  own  knowledge  of  the 
Arrow  family  is  of  the  scantiest ;  but  I  find  it  mentioned  in 
Mrs.  Bray's  Autobiography  that  James  Arrow,  the  father 
of  Jane,  belonged  to  an  old  race,  much  damaged  in  the  cause 
of  Charles  I.  He  had  a  small  landed  estate  in  Berkshire,  and 
married  an  Irish  lady,  Elizabeth  Jerdan,  "  related  to  the 
Whartons."     She  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-nine ! 

To  return  to  Anna  Maria  Pierce,  Mrs.  Polidori,  whom,  as 
she  lived  on  to  May  1853,  I  remember  perfectly  well.  Before 
my  recollection  begins  she  had  already  become  an  invalid, 
owing  to  an  internal  complaint,  and  she  never  left  her  bed- 
room, and  not  often  her  bed.  Her  youngest  daughter,  Eliza 
Harriet,  was  her  constant  and  devoted  attendant,  sacrificing 
for  this  purpose  all  the  pleasures  and  interests  of  youth. 
Mrs.  Polidori  was  a  fine  old  lady,  with  very  correct  features, 
and    an    air   which,   in   spite  of  her  age  and  infirmity,  was 


RELATIVES.  3 1 

comely  as  well  as  reverend.  Her  bed-room  had  to  me 
all  the  dignity  of  a  presence-chamber,  which  I  entered  at 
sparse  intervals  with  a  certain  awe.  She  was,  like  several 
others  of  her  race,  a  high  Tory,  and  an  earnest  member  of 
the  Church  of  England  ;  and  the  arrangement  made  at  her 
marriage  was  that  any  daughters  should  be  brought  up  in 
that  Church,  while  any  sons  should  belong  to  the  Roman 
communion.  It  comes  apposite  to  say  here  that  in  the 
Rossetti  family  the  understanding  was  different,  and  all  the 
children  were  trained  in  their  mother's  faith.  Mrs.  Polidori 
had  attained  her  eighty-fourth  year  at  the  date  of  her  death. 
The  only  other  member  of  her  generation  of  the  Pierce  family 
whom  I  knew  was  her  elder  sister  Harriet,  who,  though 
unmarried,  was  always  in  my  time  styled  Mrs.  Pierce,  and 
we  children  were  admonished  to  term  her  "  Granny."  After 
passing  many  years  as  governess  in  the  family  of  the  Earl 
of  Yarborough,  she  spent  the  evening  of  her  life  in  nice 
apartments  in  London,  which  she  made  a  model  of  spick-and- 
span  comfort,  not  unmixed  with  elegance.  I  have  just  now 
said  that  she  was  unmarried  ;  but  there  ran  a  rumour,  not 
totally  uncorroborated,  that  Lord  Yarborough  had  in  fact 
wedded  her  without  publicity.  He  had  become  a  widower 
in  i8i3,and  lived  on  to  1846.  This  rumour  I  of  course  in  no 
sort  of  way  avouch.  "  Granny  "  was  the  liberal  purveyor  of 
many  a  serviceable  household-present  to  my  mother,  her 
favourite  niece.  She  inherited  all  the  faultless  precision  and 
imposing  decorum  of  her  father,  and  was  the  most  nitid  little 
old  lady  you  could  easily  pick  out  in  London.  She  died 
in  1849 — the  first  time  that  I  looked  upon  the  visible  face 
of  death. 

The  Polidoris  had  a  family  of  four  daughters  and  four  sons 
— one  of  the  latter  dying  in  infancy.  In  my  notes  to  my 
brother's  letters  sufficient  details  will  be  given  about  three 
of  these — Charlotte  Lydia,  Philip  Robert,  and  Henry  Francis 
(the  latter  modified  his  surname  into  Polydore).  There 
remain  the  eldest  daughter,  Maria  Margaret,  and  the  youngest 
(whom  I  have  just  now  mentioned),  Eliza   Harriet.      Maria 


32  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

Margaret — or  Margaret,  as  she  was  always  called — was  in 
her  youth  a  governess,  but  retired  pretty  early,  and  lived  with 
her  family,  and  finally  in  my  house,  166  Albany  Street, 
where  she  died  in  1867.  She  was  much  affected  with  nervous 
tremor,  and  troubled  by  hysterical  fits,  in  which  she  would 
fall  into  peals  of  long-continued  quasi-laughter,  which  rang 
over  the  house—  more  like  the  vocal  gymnastics  of  a  laughing 
hyena  than  like  anything  else  I  know.  No  other  symptom 
of  the  hyena  appeared  about  my  aunt,  who,  apart  from  a 
touchy  temper,  was  a  good  old  soul,  much  addicted  to  "  daily 
service"  twice  a  day  in  church.  The  youngest  daughter, 
Eliza  Harriet,  had  always  a  housekeeping  managing  turn, 
without  any  literary  leanings.  In  1854,  the  year  succeeding 
her  mother's  death,  she  determined  to  make  her  knowledge 
of  nursing  useful  to  the  nation,  and  went  out  with  Miss 
Nightingale  to  the  Crimean  expedition,  being  then  about 
forty-five  years  of  age.  To  her  disappointment  no  actual 
nursing  was  assigned  to  her,  but  she  had  the  supervision  of 
the  hired  nurses,  and  the  management  of  bedding-stores 
etc.,  at  the  Barrack  Hospital,  Scutari,  and  rendered  excellent 
service,  which  was  recognized  by  the  bestowal  of  a  Turkish 
medal.  I  remember  that  after  her  return  to  England  some 
case  relating  to  the  nursing  transactions  came  into  a  London 
police-court,  and  she  had  to  give  evidence  ;  and  we  were 
amused  at  finding  her,  in  the  newspaper  reports,  designated 
as  "  Miss  Polly  Dory."  The  Crimean  affair  was  about  the 
only  "  adventure "  of  her  long  life.  She  died  in  London  in 
1893,  aged  nearly  eighty-four.  Eliza  was  the  last  of  the 
English  Polidoris  ;  some  of  the  name  are  still  in  Florence. 

Only  one  other  Polidori  has  to  be  accounted  for  in  my 
narrative — Dr.  John  William  Polidori,  who  lives  faintly  in 
some  memories  as  the  travelling  physician  of  the  famous  Lord 
Byron.  He  was  born  in  London  on  7  September  1795, 
educated  at  some  Catholic  schools  and  at  the  Benedictine 
Ampleforth  College  near  York,  and  took  his  degree  as  M.D. 
in  Edinburgh  at  the  singularly  youthful  age  of  nineteen.  He 
was  only  twenty  when,  on  the  recommendation  of,  Sir  Henry 


RELATIVES.  33 

Halford,  he  became  the  travelling  physician  of  Byron,  who 
on  24  April  18 16  left  England  for  the  last  time.  They 
went  along  the  Rhine  to  Geneva,  where  Polidori  made 
acquaintance  also  with  Shelley  and  his  two  companions, 
Mary  Wollstonecraft  Godwin  (the  second  Mrs.  Shelley)  and 
Clare  Clairmont.  Polidori,  who  had  poetical  and  literary 
ambitions  of  his  own,  took  too  much  upon  him  to  suit  Byron 
for  long ;  so  on  16  September  the  two  parted  company, 
and  the  young  Doctor  travelled  on  alone  to  Pisa,  and  then 
returned  to  England.  He  became  one  of  the  physicians  in 
the  Norwich  Hospital ;  but  soon  gave  up  medicine,  partly 
because  he  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  practise  in 
London  before  completing  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and  he 
began  studying  in  London  for  the  Bar.  It  has  been  said  that 
in  Norwich  Miss  Harriet  Martineau  was  somewhat  in  love 
with  him  ;  and  this  would  not  be  unlikely,  as  Polidori — apart 
from  his  intellectual  gifts,  which  were  by  no  means  so  flimsy 
as  some  people  seem  now  to  suppose — was  a  noticeably  fine 
young  man,  of  striking  feature  and  presence.  In  August  1821 
the  end  came  in  a  melancholy  way :  he  committed  suicide 
with  poison — having,  through  losses  in  gambling,  incurred  a 
debt  of  honour  which  he  had  no  present  means  of  clearing  off. 
A  coroner's  jury  was  summoned  ;  the  jurors  took,  probably 
through  good-nature  towards  the  family,  no  steps  for  eliciting 
requisite  evidence,  and  returned  a  verdict  of  "  Died  by  the 
visitation  of  God."  His  death  was  a  grievous  blow  to  his 
father,  all  whose  leading  hopes  centred  in  this  son.  Gaetano 
Polidori,  to  the  end  of  his  long  life,  a  lapse  of  thirty-two  years, 
was  never  equal  to  hearing  any  mention  of  him,  and  we 
children  of  a  younger  generation  were  strictly  warned  not 
to  name  him,  however  casually,  in  our  grandfather's  presence. 

John  Polidori  published  two  volumes  of  verse  :  Ximenes, 
a  Tragedy,  and  Other  Poems,  18 19  ;  and  The  Fall  of  the 
Angels,  1 821.  It  may  at  once  be  admitted  that  his  poetry 
was  not  good.  Two  prose  tales  are  much  better — Ernestus 
Berchtold,  and  The  Vampyre,  both  published  in  18 19. 
The  Vampyre   has  continually   been    misascribed   to   Byron, 

VOL.    I.  3 


34  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

who  in  reality  wrote  the  mere  beginning  of  another  tale 
(quite  different  in  its  incidents)  named  likewise  The  Vampyre. 
Polidori  left  some  other  writings,  both  published  and  un- 
published. The  latter  include  a  diary,  partly  detailed  and 
partly  mere  jottings,  of  his  sojourn  with  Byron  and  Shelley, 
and  his  subsequent  tour.  It  was  commissioned  by  Murray 
for  publication  at  no  less  a  price  than  £525,  and  contains 
some  particulars  of  substantial  interest.1 

I  have  now  finished  all  that  I  need  say  about  the  relatives 
of  Dante  Rossetti  on  the  mother's  side.  The  only  relative 
on  our  father's  side  whom  we  have  personally  known — with 
some  others  I  have  corresponded — was  Teodorico  (or  properly 
Teodoro)  Pietrocola,  who  adopted  the  compound  surname  of 
Pietrocola-Rossetti.  He  was  a  Vastese,  and  studied  medicine 
to  some  extent.  In  1851,  being  then  about  twenty-four  years 
of  age,  he  came  to  London,  hoping  to  find  an  opening  of 
some  kind  ;  but  found  nothing  except  semi-starvation,  which 
he  bore  with  a  cheerful  constancy  touching  to  witness.  In 
1856  or  thereabouts  he  returned  to  Italy,  practised  for  a 
moderate  while  medicine  as  a  Homceopathist,  married  a 
Scotch  lady  (originally  Miss  Steele,  now  Mrs.  Cole,  an  amiable, 
accomplished,  and  admirable  woman),  and,  with  her  co-opera- 
tion, devoted  himself  to  preaching  evangelical  Christianity, 
somewhat  of  the  Vaudois  type,  in  Florence  and  elsewhere. 
He  died  very  suddenly  in  1883,  just  as  he  was  giving  out 
a  hymn  or  text  to  his  small  congregation.  He  published 
a  few  things — among  others,  a  biography  of  my  father,  a 
translation  of  Alice  in  Wonderland,  and  one  of  Christina 
Rossetti's-  poem,  Goblin-Market,  A  man  of  more  native 
unselfish  kindliness,  of  stricter  morals,  or  of  nicer  concientious- 
ness,  never  breathed. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  observed  in  the  book  of 
Mr.  W.  G.  Collingwood,  The  Life  and  Work  of  John  Ruskin, 
a  reference  to  Pietrocola-Rossetti  which  is  of  so  much  interest 

1  On  the  details  about  Shelley  in  this  diary  I  wrote  a  few  years  ago,  and 
delivered  to  the  Shelley  Society,  a  lecture  which  has  not  as  yet  been 
printed. 


RELATIVES.  3  5 

to  me,  and  in  itself  so  noticeable,  that  I  extract  it  here  ;  it 
relates  to  the  year  1882  : — 

"Miss  [Francesca]  Alexander  .  .  .  was  as  friendly,  not  only  in 
society  but  in  spiritual  things,  with  the  worthy  village  priest  as  with 
T.  P.  Rossetti,  the  leader  of  the  Protestant  '  Brethren,'  whom  she 
called  her  pastor — a  cousin  of  the  artist,  and  in  his  way  no  less 
remarkable  a  man.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  he  did,  for 
evangelical  religion  in  Italy,  what  Gabriel  Rossetti  did  for  poetical 
art  in  England :  he  showed  the  path  to  sincerity  and  simplicity. 
And  Mr.  Ruskin,  who  had  been  driven  away  from  Protestantism  by 
the  Waldensian  at  Turin  [this  refers  to  an  incident  in  the  year  1858], 
and  had  wandered  through  many  realms  of  doubt,  and  voyaged 
through  strange  seas  of  thought  alone,  found  harbour  at  last  with 
the  disciple  of  a  modern  evangelist,  the  frequenter  of  the  poor  little 
meeting-house  of  outcast  Italian  Protestants." 

If  this  statement  is  literally  accurate,  it  would  appear  that 
the  latest  development  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  religious  opinions  was 
mainly  influenced  by  Miss  Alexander,  who  was  not  a  little 
influenced  by  Pietrocola-Rossetti :  a  matter  worth  remember- 
ing for  many  a  day  to  come. 

I  have  often  reflected  how  utterly  different  this  cousin  of 
mine  was  from  the  ordinary  English  notion  of  a  Southern 
Italian.  My  father  also  was  very  different  from  that  notion  ; 
my  grandfather,  a  Central  Italian,  quite  the  reverse  of  it. 
Peace  be  with  the  honoured  and  honourable  memory  of  all 
three. 

The  Rossetti  family  in  Vasto  became  extinct  while  I  was 
composing  this  Memoir  :  the  latest  survivor  was  Vincenzo 
Rossetti,  who  died, aged  forty,  on  11  November  1894.  "With 
him,"  so  runs  a  billet  de  /aire  part  which  was  sent  to  me, 
"  was  lost  the  last  germ  of  so  glorious  a  stem  in  Italy." 
I  presume,  but  cannot  say  for  certain,  that  in  the  female  line 
the  race  of  Nicola  and  Maria  Francesca  Rossetti  may  still 
subsist. 

The  reader  may  have  observed,  in  the  course  of  my 
family  narrative,  several  instances  of  longevity  in  the  races 
of  Arrow,  Pierce,  and  Polidori.     I  have  under  my  eye  a  list 


36  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

of  nine  persons,  among  whom  the  lowest  age  was  eighty- 
three,  the  highest  ninety-nine — average  eighty-eight.  Nothing 
of  the  sort  appears  in  the  Rossetti  race,  though  my  father 
attained  a  not  inconsiderable  age — seventy-one.  It  may  also 
be  noted  that  in  the  three  lines  from  which  Dante  Rossetti 
came — Polidori,  Pierce,  and  Rossetti — the  work  of  tuition 
held  a  very  large  place.  Hence  perchance  he  inherited  a 
certain  readiness  at  linguistics,  and  at  seeing  literary  matters 
from  a  literary  point  of  view  ;  but  there  was  little  or  nothing 
in  him  of  the  man  born  to  teach  by  ordinary  teaching 
methods. 

IV. 

CHILDHOOD. 

My  mother,  marrying  on  10  April  1826,  had  four  children- 
there  were  never  any  more — in  four  successive  years  :  Maria 
Francesca,  born  on  17  February  1827  ;  Gabriel  Charles 
Dante,  12  May  1828  ;  William  Michael,  25  September 
1829;  and  Christina  Georgina,  5  December  1830.  The 
famous  Surgeon  and  Physician,  Dr.  Locock — afterwards  Sir 
William  Locock,  the  Queen's  accoucheur — ushered,  I  believe, 
all  of  us  into  the  world  ;  for  our  father — though  a  man  of 
thrift,  and  in  personal  expenses  heedfully  sparing — grudged 
no  cost  needed  for  the  well-being  of  his  household.  To 
Gabriel  Charles  Dante  I  shall  here  generally  apply  the  name 
"  Dante,"  which  he  adopted  as  if  it  had  stood  first  in  order ; 
in  his  own  family,  however,  he  was  invariably  termed  Gabriel 
— or,  by  our  sister  Maria,  "  Gubby,"  a  pet  name  which  other 
members  of  the  household  did  not  affect. 

Our  house,  No.  38  Charlotte  Street,  was  a  fairly  neat  but 
decidedly  small  one  :  it  is  smaller  inside  than  it  looks  viewed 
from  outside.  I  can  remember  a  little  about  it,  but  not 
much.  Towards  1 836  the  family  had  outgrown  it,  and  removed 
to  No.  50  in  the  same  street — a  larger  but  still  far  indeed 
from  being  a  spacious  dwelling.  This  house  is  now  the  office 
of  a  Registrar  of  births,  deaths,  and  marriages;  and,  singularly 


CHILDHOOD.  37 

enough,  when  I  had  to  record  in  1876  the  death  of  my 
sister  Maria,  I  found  that  the  place  for  doing  this  was  the 
very  house  in  which  she  had  so  long  resided.  Soon  after 
Gabriele  Rossetti  settled  in  Charlotte  Street  it  began  to  go 
down  in  character,  and  at  times  it  became  the  extreme  reverse 
of  "  respectable."  Dante  Rossetti  in  his  early  childhood  was 
a  pleasing  spirited-looking  boy,  with  bright  eyes,  auburn  hair, 
and  fresh  complexion.  He  remembered  in  after-years  nothing 
distinctly  earlier  than  this  :  That  there  used  to  be  a  Punch 
and  Judy  show  which  came  at  frequent  intervals  to  perform 
just  before  our  house,  but  for  the  delectation  of  our  opposite 
neighbours,  so  that  he  himself  only  saw  the  back  of  the  show. 
This  was  not  at  all  what  he  wanted  ;  so  he  motioned  to  go 
out  into  the  street,  and  turn  round  and  see  the  front  of  the 
Punch  and  Judy  (there  was  no  Dog  Toby  in  those  distant 
days),  but  was  wofully  disconcerted  at  being  told  that  such 
a  proceeding  would  be  infra  dig,  and  not  to  be  condoned. 
Dante  shared  with  Maria  the  ascendency  over  his  two  juniors  : 
but  Maria,  in  these  opening  years,  was  not  easily  to  be 
superseded — being  of  a  very  enthusiastic  temperament  and 
lively  parts  ;  and  indeed  she  always  remained  the  best  of  the 
four  at  what  we  call  acquired  knowledge.  In  her  fifth  year 
she  could  read  anything  in  either  English  or  Italian,  and 
read  she  did  with  tireless  persistency.  Our  early  years 
were  passed  wholly  at  home  in  London,  with  occasional  visits 
to  our  grandparents  at  Holmer  Green,  our  Aunts  Margaret 
and  Eliza,  and  our  Uncle  Philip,  being  continuously  there  as 
well.  Our  daily  walks  were  with  our  mother  in  and  about 
Regent's  Park,  which  was  opened  to  the  public  much  towards 
the  date  of  my  birth.  I  can  still  recollect  how  palatial  I 
used  to  consider  the  frontage  of  the  Terraces  facing  the  Park, 
and  how  our  mother  would  explain  to  us  which  of  the 
columns  or  pilasters  was  Ionic,  which  Corinthian,  and  so  on. 
The  Colosseum,  a  big  Exhibition  building  pulled  down 
towards  1870,  was  then  in  existence,  and  was  occasionally 
visited  by  us.  It  comprised  a  Camera  Obscura,  in  which  we 
viewed  with  wonder  the  groups  of  people  disporting  them- 


38  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

selves  in  the  Park.  Primrose  Hill  was  ascended  every  now 
and  then.  It  led  immediately  on  into  fields  (how  different 
from  now !)  which  brought  one  into  the  rural  village  of 
Hampstead,  to  which  our  father  escorted  us  at  rare  intervals. 
Railways  were  just  beginning  not  far  from  Regent's  Park  ; 
to  see  the  puffs  of  their  steam  as  the  trains  rolled  onward 
appeared  little  short  of  magic. 

Two  of  my  childish  reminiscences  of  my  brother  relate  to 
animals.  Some  one  gave  him  a  dormouse,  which  he  named 
"  Dwanging,"  and,  on  the  approach  of  winter,  he  shut  it  up 
in  a  drawer  to  hibernate.  In  its  long  sleep  he  looked  at  it 
from  time  to  time,  but  was  careful  not  to  disturb  it ;  and  his 
glee  was  proportionate  when  the  little  creature  revived  in  the 
spring.  Later  on  there  was  a  hedgehog,  to  whom  Dante's 
conduct  was  not  equally  correct.  The  hedgehog  was  wont 
to  trot  about  on  the  table  in  our  dining  and  sitting  room,  or 
"  parlour "  as  we  mostly  termed  it  (the  drawing-room  was 
little  used,  save  by  our  father  in  his  literary  work,  or  occa- 
sionally with  a  pupil) ;  and  one  day  my  brother  insisted  on 
leaving  upon  the  table  some  beer  for  his  prickly  favourite. 
The  latter  freely  partook  of  the  beverage,  and  his  unsteady 
gait  evinced  the  effects  of  it.  Our  mother  forbade  the  repeti- 
tion of  any  such  experiments  ;  and  I  think  Dante  himself  had 
no  wish  to  recur  to  them,  for  at  no  period  of  his  life  did  he 
relish  the  sight  of  anything  repellent  or  degrading.  One  of 
my  brother's  first  books  was  Peter  Parley's  Natural  History, 
which  he  enjoyed,  both  text  and  cuts.  We  went  pretty  often 
to  the  Zoological  Gardens,  then  a  very  recent  foundation,  and 
would  run  shrieking  through  its  tunnel,  to  rouse  the  echo. 
The  animals  were  at  that  date  much  fewer  than  now,  yet  still 
numerous — their  housing  very  inferior.  There  was  a  striated 
monkey,  whose  designation  was  explained  to  us  (I  have  not 
seen  any  such  animal  of  late  years)  ;  also  a  singsing  antelope, 
of  whom  my  father  would  say  (in  English),  "  Sing,  sing, 
antelope  ;  antelope,  sing,  sing  ;  but  he  never  sang."  Arma- 
dilloes,  and  a  sloth  walking  with  his  head  downwards,  were 
among  our  favourites — not   to   speak  of  screaming  parrots, 


CHILDHOOD.  39 

bears,  lions,  tigers,  and  elephants.  A  collared  peccary  gave 
Christina  a  vicious  bite,  which  came  to  nothing.  No  wombat 
figured  at  that  early  date ;  but  several  dogs  used  to  be  there, 
more  or  less  domestic,  which  were  tethered  in  a  rather 
dejected  and  yell-abounding  file.  They  were  afterwards 
abolished,  on  the  ground  that  such  a  treatment  of  them  was 
not  far  remote  from  cruelty. 

Another  amusement,  as  Dante  progressed  in  childhood, 
was  the  Adelaide  Gallery,  close  to  St.  Martin's  Church,  now 
occupied  by  Gatti's  Restaurant.  It  was  a  semi-scientific  enter- 
tainment, exhibiting  inter  alia  fearsome  microscopic  enlarge- 
ments of  the  infusoria  in  a  few  drops  of  water.  The  Adelaide 
Gallery  was  succeeded  by  the  Polytechnic  Institution  in 
Regent  Street,  with  a  more  varied  programme  of  like  kind — 
diving-bell,  electric  shocks,  dissolving  views,  chemical  demon- 
strations, etc.  This  also  is  now  gone,  the  present  Polytechnic 
being  quite  a  different  sort  of  establishment.  The  Soho 
Bazaar,  and  more  especially  the  Pantheon  Bazaar  in  Oxford 
Street  (now  Gilbey's  liquor  stores),  were  often  our  resort. 
The  Pantheon  exhibited  many  pictures  from  time  to  time, 
including  Haydon's  Raising  of  Lazarus.  Astley's  Riding 
Circus,  with  dramatic  entertainments  (such  as  Mazeppd),  we 
saw  once  or  twice,  but  in  childhood  we  hardly  at  all  entered 
a  regular  theatre.  To  pay  for  going  to  the  Italian  Opera 
(the  building  near  Charing  Cross,  now  gone)  was  what  we 
could  not  afford.  Occasionally,  however,  the  great  singer 
Lablache,  whom  my  father  had  known  in  Naples,  would 
give  us  a  ticket  for  that  house,  and  we  enjoyed  the  perform- 
ance vastly.  My  recollections  carry  me  back  to  the  first  (or 
may-be  the  second)  London  season  of  the  celebrated  Madame 
Julia  Grisi,  whom  I  saw  in  the  Gazza  Ladra.  The  appear- 
ance of  her  husband  Mario  was  a  matter  of  some  years  later 
on.  I  remember  also  the  first  season  of  Madlle  Rachel, 
who  was  acting  Chimene  in  the  Cid  of  Corneille.  There 
was  likewise  a  ballet,  The  Daughter  of  the  Danube,  with 
various  "  fiends  "  in  it.  This  hit  our  fancy  uncommonly,  and 
we  made  at  home  some  kind  of  pretence  at  "  the  Blue  Demon  " 


40  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

and  other  of  its  characters  in  1838.  My  first  (and  for  years 
it  must  have  remained  my  sole)  pantomime  is  also  a  lively 
reminiscence.  There  was  a  race  run  by  jockeys  on  pigs,  and 
each  touch  of  the  whip  raised  a  shower  of  sparks  out  of  the 
porcine  steeds,  to  my  uncontrollable  laughter  and  delight. 
My  brother  must  have  been  with  me,  but  I  forget  his 
demeanour. 

Beyond  an  opera  or  a  concert  at  rare  intervals,  we  heard 
little  music  as  children  ;  except  that  our  father,  with  his  rich 
voice  and  fine  declamation,  would  at  times,  unaccompanied, 
strike  up  a  stave  of  some  glorious  chant  of  the  French 
revolutionary  epoch — 

"La  Victoire  en  chantant  nous  ouvre  la  barriere" — 

or  (sung  to  the  same  spirit-stirring  air) — 

"  Romain,  leve  les  yeux.     La  fut  le  Capitol,"1 

or  the  Marseillaise.  Another  customary  song  of  his  was  a 
popular  and  rather  long  grotesque  tirade  about  a  Jewish 
wedding,  Bdruccaba,  from  which  he  sang  several  snatches. 
Our  mother  also  would  frequently  play  on  the  pianoforte,  for 
our  delectation,  The  Battle  of  Prague,  with  the  "  groans  of  the 
wounded,"  and  other  less  lugubrious  details.  She  had  an 
agreeable  voice  for  singing ;  but  it  had  received  no  sort  of 
cultivation,  as  singing  was,  like  dancing,  one  of  the  worldly 
vanities  which  my  grandfather  discountenanced.     In  my  first 

1  This  Lyric  must  belong  to  the  year  1798,  when  the  French  army 
entered  Rome,  and  set  up  a  short-lived  Republic  ;  perhaps  it  is  now  a 
curiosity.     I  can  recall  the  opening  lines — being  all,  1  think,  that  my  father 

sang : — 

' '  Romain,  leve  les  yeux.     La  fut  le  Capitol : 
Ce  pont  fut  le  pont  de  Codes : 
La  Brutus  immola  sa  race  : 
Et  C6sar  dans  cette  autre  place 
Fut  poignarde'  par  Cassius. 
Rome,  la  Liberte'  t'appelle  ; 
Sache  vaincre  ou  sache  perir  : 
Un  Romain  doit  vivre  pour  elle, 
Pour  elle  un  Romain  doit  mourir. " 


CHILDHOOD.  41 

years  I  often  heard  her  sing  these  lines,  and  the  tune  still 
lingers  with  me  : — 

"  The  sun  sets  by  night  and  the  stars  shun  the  day, 
But  glory  remains  when  their  lights  fade  away : 
Begin,  ye  tormentors,  your  threats  are  in  vain, 
For  the  sons  of  Alnomuk  shall  never  complain. 

"Remember  the  arrows  we  shot  from  our  bow, 
Remember  the  chiefs  by  our  hatchets  laid  low: 
Now,  the  flames  rising  fast,  we  exult  in  our  pain, 
For  the  sons  of  Alnomuk  shall  never  complain." 

Where  do  these  mediocre  lines  come  from  ?  My  mother 
(it  seems  to  me)  associated  them  with  the  story  of  Guatimozin 
and  the  Spaniards  under  Cortes,  but  that  does  not  look 
correct. 

I  hardly  think  that  I  ever  saw  my  father  touch  a  pack  of 
playing  cards  ;  he  played  pretty  often  at  chess.  My  mother 
would  at  times  take  part  in  a  family  game  without  any  stakes. 
Upon  us  children  nothing  was  more  strongly  impressed  than 
a  horror  of  gambling,  which  had  led  to  the  death  of  Dr.  John 
Polidori  :  but  we  were  allowed  to  play  at  simple  games  ; 
Patience,  and  Beggar  my  Neighbour,  and  (what  I  never  hear 
of  now)  The  Duchess  of  Rutland's  Whim.  The  last  I  asso- 
ciated in  my  mind  with  the  notion  of  arithmetical  subtraction, 
as  contrasted  with  addition,  which  the  other  two  games  might 
be  held  to  represent.  Later  on  there  came  Whist,  and  the 
Italian  game  of  Tre  Sette.  We  identified  ourselves  in  a  sort 
of  way  with  the  four  suits  of  cards  ;  and  clubs  were  thus  made 
the  appurtenance  of  Maria,  hearts  of  Dante,  diamonds  of 
Christina,  and  spades  of  myself.  I  may  here  say  that  the 
dislike  to  the  idea  of  gambling  clung  to  us  through  life  ;  and 
neither  Dante  nor  any  other  of  us  ever  played  for  money,  in 
any  sense  worth  naming.  Besides  cards,  a  rocking-horse,  a 
spinning-top,  a  teetotum,  ball,  ninepins,  blindman's  buff,  and 
puss-in-the-corner,  used  to  amuse  us — hardly  anything  else 
in  the  way  of  games.  Even  marbles  we  never  rightly  learned, 
nor  efficient  kite-flying,  still  less  anything  to  be  called  athletics. 
As  to  mental  games,  we  were  much  addicted  to  what  is  called 


42  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

"  animal,  vegetable,  or  mineral "  ;  and  there  must  occasionally 
have  been  some  "  capping  verses,"  but  this  (which  seems  odd 
under  the  circumstances)  was  quite  infrequent. 

Of  events  in  the  opening  years  of  Dante  Rossetti  I  find 
none  to  record  ;  unless  it  be  that,  at  the  age  of  five,  he 
suddenly  became  weak  on  his  legs,  and,  after  the  celebrated 
surgeon  Sir  Benjamin  Brodie  had  been  consulted,  he  had  to 
wear  splints  for  a  longish  while — say  three  or  four  months. 
I  can  recollect  the  look  of  him,  carried,  or  afterwards  hobbling, 
upstairs.  One  day  he  thought  he  would  try  how  he  could 
do  without  the  splints  ;  he  did  very  well,  and  the  affair  was 
at  an  end.  He  was  a  sprightly  little  fellow,  and  liked  to 
play  a  trick  or  two.  One  trick  he  played  more  than 
once  was  walking  in  the  street  in  a  huddled-up  attitude,  as 
if  he  were  crippled  or  almost  hunchbacked.  When  a  pas- 
senger looked  at  him  sympathetically,  the  limbs  suddenly 
straightened,  and  perhaps  an  impish  laugh  accompanied  the 
change  of  form.  In  our  unluxurious  household  he  was  regarded 
as  rather  "  dainty  "  in  his  diet ;  inclined  to  eat  such  things  as 
he  liked,  and  doing  without  those  he  disliked.  For  beer  he 
had  a  marked  distaste  ;  there  was  no  wine  going  to  speak  of, 
so  he  stuck  to  water.  Meat  also  he  would  scarcely  touch 
until  turned  of  eight  years. 

I  believe  the  first  attempt  at  drawing  made  by  the  future 
painter  of  Beata  Beatrix  was  on  this  wise.  At  the  age  of 
about  four  he  stationed  himself  in  the  passage  leading  to  the 
street-door,  and  with  a  pencil  of  our  father's  began  drawing 
his  rocking-horse  ;  later  on  in  his  childhood  and  boyhood  he 
seldom  made  any  attempt  at  drawing  from  any  real  object, 
but  only  "  out  of  his  own  head."  A  milkman  came  in  at  the 
moment,  and  was  not  a  little  surprised  :  "  I  saw  a  baby 
making  a  picture,"  he  said  to  the  servant.  I  have  here 
mentioned  "  the  age  of  about  four,"  because  that  is  the  age 
which  my  brother  himself  named  to  me  one  day  in  April  1 872 
when  we  were  talking  over  our  earliest  reminiscences.  I  still 
possess  a  drawing  by  him  of  the  rocking-horse,  on  which  our 
mother  has  marked  the  date   1834,  when  he  was  at  least  five 


CHILDHOOD.  43 

years  of  age.  I  could  believe  this  to  be  that  very  first 
drawing  of  all,  were  it  not  that  the  performance  comes  so 
near  to  being  pretty  tolerably  good  that  I  find  some  difficulty 
in  conceiving  that  he  had  never  before  taken  pencil  in 
hand. 

Having  once  begun,  Dante  never  dropped  this  notion  of 
drawing — of  handling  a  pencil  or  a  brush ;  and  I  cannot 
remember  any  date  at  which  it  was  not  understood  in  the 
family  that  "  Gabriel  meant  to  be  a  painter."  He,  and  also  I, 
were  incessantly  buying  sheets  of  slight  engravings  of  actors 
and  actresses  in  costume — "  Skelt's  Theatrical  Characters  " 
was  the  name  of  one  leading  series  of  them.  I  do  not  think 
any  such  engravings  are  now  produced,  which  seems  strange 
in  this  period  of  dramatic  activity.  There  was  a  good-natured 
little  stationer  named  Hardy,  perhaps  in  Clipstone  Street, 
from  whom  we  bought  these  things ;  and  another  named 
Marks,  in  Great  Titchfield  Street,  who  was  a  trifle  less  accom- 
modating, and  on  one  occasion  nonplussed  us  both  by 
insisting  that  we  should  ask  for  the  required  "  characters  " 
by  the  number  printed  on  the  sheet,  and  not  by  the  title 
of  the  play  or  the  personage.  The  quantity  of  these  figures 
which  Dante  and  I  coloured  is  marvellous  to  reflect  upon — he 
in  chief,  but  I  was  a  good  second  ;  our  sisters  counted  for 
little.  We  also  "  tinselled  "  the  figures,  but  this  was  com- 
paratively rare.  Now  and  then  we  made  some  attempt  at 
acting  a  play  with  such  personages  on  a  toy-stage  ;  but,  as 
none  of  us  had  the  least  manual  or  mechanical  dexterity,  this 
came  to  nothing.  I  seem  to  recollect  The  Miller  and  his 
Men  and  Der  Freiscliutz.  In  colouring  our  taste  was  all 
for  bright  hues — red,  blue,  yellow,  etc.  Neither  of  us  had  the 
least  of  a  colourist's  sympathy  for  fused,  subdued,  or  mottled 
tints. 

In  those  days  another  amusement  was  current,  which  has, 
I  fancy,  died  out  entirely.  It  might  well  be  revived.  "  Magic 
Shadows  "  was  the  name  of  it.  One  bought  full-sized  sheets  of 
paper,  on  which  heads,  figures,  or  groups,  were  rudely  printed, 
in  coarse  outline,  and  with  numerous  half-formless  splotches 


44  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

of  black.  One  had  to  cut  out  a  figure  etc.  along  its  outline, 
and  to  cut  out  also  the  splotches  of  black  ;  and  then  one  held 
up  the  figure  between  a  candle  and  the  wall,  so  that  the 
shadow  of  the  unexcised  portions  was  cast  on  to  the  wall. 
This  shadow  looked  surprisingly  neat  and  expressive  in 
comparison  with  the  original  aspect  of  the  printed  figures. 
We  all — but  principally  myself — enjoyed  this  ocular  amuse- 
ment, and  practised  it  diligently  for  various  years. 


V. 
ACQUAINTANCES  IN  CHILDHOOD. 

Mr.  Hall  CAINE  has  cited  from  one  of  Dante  Rossetti's 
letters  the  phrase,  "  Our  household  was  all  of  Italian,  not 
English,  environment."     This  is  wholly  correct. 

The  only  English  family  that  we  used  to  see  pretty 
frequently  was  that  of  Mr.  Cipriani  Potter,  the  Pianist,  and 
Principal  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Music.  He  was  one  of 
my  godfathers,  and  had  children  of  much  the  same  age  as 
ourselves ;  an  excellent  undersized  man,  with  a  somewhat 
saturnine  expressive  face,  an  abundance  of  shrewd  sense, 
and  a  bantering  habit  of  talk.  Mr.  Charles  Lyell,  though 
intimate  with  my  father,  was  seldom  in  London.  There  was 
also  Mr.  Thomas  Keightley,  the  historian,  and  author  of  The 
Fairy  Mythology — a  book  which  formed  one  of  the  leading 
delights  of  our  childhood.  He  likewise  was  in  London  only 
occasionally — a  scholarly,  shortsighted  Irishman,  of  a  high 
sense  of  honour,  rather  easily  nettled  now  and  again.  He  was 
a  great  believer  in  my  father's  views  concerning  Dante.  At 
a  much  later  date,  towards  1849,  Mr.  Keightley  settled  in  a 
suburb  of  London  ;  and  his  nephew  and  adopted  son,  Mr. 
Alfred  Chaworth  Lyster,  became,  and  still  remains,  one  of  my 
most  affectionate  friends.  Two  of  the  families  in  which  my 
father  taught  Italian — those  of  Mr.  Swynfen  Jervis,  and  of 
Sir  Isaac  Lyon  Goldsmid — had  a  particular  regard  for  him, 
and   on  some  high  occasions  we  children  were  inside  their 


ACQUAINTANCES   IN   CHILDHOOD.  45 

doors.  Mr.  Jervis,  a  relative  of  Lord  St.  Vincent,  took  some 
minor  part  in  verse-writing  and  Shakespearean  comment. 
He  was  father  of  Mrs.  George  Henry  Lewes,  and  I  remember 
her  well  before  her  marriage,  but  never  saw  her  afterwards  ; 
her  unfortunate  story  shall  not  here  be  touched  upon.  To  Sir 
Isaac  Goldsmid,  one  of  the  wealthiest  Hebrew  stockbrokers  in 
London,  I  may  record  my  obligation,  which  proved  to  be  a 
life-long  one.  He  it  was  who,  when  my  father,  in  failing  health 
and  waning  employment,  was  looking  out  for  some  career  into 
which  I  could  be  introduced,  spoke  a  word  in  season  to  one 
of  his  colleagues  on  the  Council  of  the  London  University, 
Mr.  John  Wood,  then  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Excise — and 
Mr.  Wood  lost  no  time  in  giving  me  employment  there 
which,  though  temporary  at  first  starting,  lasted  in  fact  from 
February  1845  to  August  1894.  These  seem  to  be  about  the 
only  English  people  whom  I  need  mention  in  this  connexion, 
allowing  besides  for  the  English  family  of  an  Anglo-Italian 
music-master,  Signor  Rovedino.  This  family,  like  that  of 
Mr.  Potter,  comprised  children  of  our  own  age.  With  Mrs. 
Rovedino  resided  an  aunt,  whom  I  mention  for  the  sake  of 
her  sounding  old  Saxon  name,  Miss  Waltheof,  which  was 
always  pronounced  Walthew. 

We  knew  in  childhood  a  perfect  specimen  of  the  "  Poor 
Relation,"  who  used  to  call  upon  our  mother  at  regular 
intervals  for  purposes  easily  surmisable.  She  was  named 
Miss  Sarah  Brown — a  middle-aged  spinster  tending  to  the 
elderly,  of  that  order  of  faculty  which  is  termed  "  weak-minded." 
At  a  very  early  age  we  became,  in  some  casual  way,  familiar 
with  Charles  Lamb's  excellent  little  essay  called  Poor  Relations, 
containing  the  words  (as  near  as  I  remember  them)  : — 

"There  is  one  person  more  embarrassing  than  a  male  Poor 
Relation,  and  that  is  a  female  Poor  Relation ;  no  woman  dresses 
below  her  station  from  caprice." 

I  used  to  ponder  these  words  in  regard  to  Sarah  Brown,  and 
to  think,  "  Is  it  or  is  it  not  true  that  no  woman  dresses  below 
her  station  from  caprice  ?  " 


46  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

If  English  acquaintances  were  at  a  minimum  with  us, 
Italian  acquaintances  were  at  a  maximum.  It  seems  hardly 
an  exaggeration  to  say  that  every  Italian  staying  in  or  pass- 
ing through  London,  of  a  Liberal  mode  of  political  opinion, 
sought  out  my  father,  to  make  or  renew  acquaintance  with  him  ; 
not  to  speak  of  numerous  relays  of  tatterdemalions,  who  came 
principally  or  solely  for  alms.  If  they  made  the  Masonic 
knock  at  the  door,  or  a  Masonic  digital  sign  on  entering, 
they  were  immediately  relieved,  as  an  act  of  obligation  on 
the  part  of  my  father  as  a  Freemason  ;  and  many  were 
relieved  who  had  no  claim  of  that  particular  kind.  There 
were  two  terms  which  I  have  heard  my  father  apply — how 
often  ! — to  persons  of  this  class  :  "  un  cercatore  "  was  an  appli- 
cant or  beggar,  "  un  seccatore  "  was  an  intrusive  person,  or  bore. 
Others,  to  whom  these  designations  did  not  relate  (though 
some  of  these  also  were  manifest  seccatori,  and  perhaps  on 
occasion  cercatori  as  well),  would  come  evening  after  evening, 
and  almost  all  evenings,  to  our  house — in  various  instances, 
for  months  or  years  together.  My  father,  as  the  offspring  of 
a  blacksmith  in  a  country  town,  was  not  entitled  to  have  any 
caste-prejudices,  and  in  fact  he  had  none.  To  be  an  Italian 
was  a  passport  to  his  good-will  ;  and,  whether  the  Italian  was 
a  nobleman,  a  professional  gentleman,  a  small  musical  hanger- 
on,  a  maccaroni-man,  or  a  mere  waif  and  stray  churned  by  the 
pitiless  sea  of  expatriation,  he  equally  welcomed  him,  if  only 
he  were  an  honest  soul,  and  not  a  spia  (spy) — the  latter  being 
a  class  of  men  much  rumoured  of  among  the  Italian  refugees 
and  Londoners,  and  abhorred  with  a  loathing  indignation. 
Hardly  an  organ-man  or  plaster-cast  vendor  passed  our  street- 
door  without  being  interrogated  by  my  father,  "  Di  che  paese 
siete?"  ("What  part  of  Italy  do  you  come  from?")  The 
plaster-cast  vendor  is  seen  no  more  in  London  streets,  but 
the  organ-man  remains.  The  natives  of  the  Sunny  South 
who  frequented  our  house  seemed  all  to  be  indifferent — 
singularly  indifferent,  in  British  eyes — to  any  form  of  social 
entertainment ;  what  they  came  for  was  talk — chiefly  on 
political  topics,  mingled  at  moments  with  a  little  literature, 


ACQUAINTANCES   IN    CHILDHOOD.  47 

and  constantly  with  a  liberal  sprinkling  of  my  father's  poems, 
which  were  received  with  sonorous  eulogy,  founded  at  least 
as  much  on  political  or  national  as  on  literary  considerations. 
Gabriele  Rossetti's  noble  declamation,  taken  along  with  his 
subject-matter,  was  indeed  enough  to  carry  any  sympathizer 
away  on  the  wave  and  whirl  of  excitement.  I  seldom  heard 
him  read  any  of  his  prose-writings  on  such  occasions.  His 
auditors  hardly  appeared  to  have  any  fleshly  appetites.  Such 
a  thing  as  a  solid  supper  was  never  in  question,  neither  did 
they  ever  propose  to  smoke.  They  would  come  into  our  small 
sitting-room,  greet  the  "  Signora  Francesca  "  and  their  host, 
and  sit  down,  as  the  chance  offered,  amid  the  whole  family, 
adult  and  semi-infantine.  A  cup  or  two  of  tea  or  of  coffee, 
with  a  slice  of  bread  and  butter,  was  all  the  provender  wont 
to  be  forthcoming. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  give  an  idea  of  the  atmosphere  of 
thought  and  feeling  in  which  Dante  Rossetti  grew  to  boyhood 
and  to  youth,  unless  I  were  to  say  something  about  the 
foreign  visitors.  I  shall  endeavour  to  be  reasonably  brief. 
Some  he  remembered  a  little,  but  I,  his  junior,  scarcely  or  not 
at  all.  Such  were  Angeloni,  a  literary  purist,1  who  became 
blind  in  his  last  years  ;  General  Michele  Carrascosa,  who  was 
my  second  godfather ;  the  famous  prima  donna  Giuditta 
Pasta ;  Guido  Sorelli,  who  maligned  in  a  book  the  character 
of  Italian  women,  and  was  gibbeted  by  my  father  in  a  sonnet ; 
Dragonetti,  a  leading  violoncellist  at  the  Italian  opera ; 
Petroni,  compiler  of  a  dictionary.  The  celebrated  author  Ugo 
Foscolo  was  barely  known  to  my  father  in  London  ;  well  known 
was  the  not  less  celebrated  violinist  Paganini.  There  was  a 
Conte  Faro,  who  took,  I  believe,  to  coal-dealing.  "  Faro  " 
means    in    Italian    "  I    will    do"  ;    and    my    father    (possibly 

1  Purism  in  the  use  of  the  Italian  language  was  a  great  controversy 
among  Italians  in  all  those  years.  The  purists  insisted  upon  recurring  to 
the  standard  of  literary  diction,  mainly  the  Tuscan  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  to  the  exclusion  of  everything  modern,  provincial,  or  imported 
from  abroad.  Gabriele  Rossetti  cared  little  for  such  niceties,  but  was 
willing  to  write  much  as  he  thought  and  spoke.  Polidori  was  stricter,  yet 
not  a  purist. 


48  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

without  any  reason  beyond  the  purport  of  the  name)  used  to 
call  him  "  Faro,  faro,  e  nonfard  mai  niente  "  ("  I  will  do,  I  will 
do,  and  never  will  he  do  anything  ").  One  curious  character, 
fearfully  addicted  to  drawing  the  long  bow,  was  named  the 
Marchese  Moscati,  who  actually  persuaded  the  very  eminent 
physician,  Dr.  Elliotson,  that  Moscati  had  a  double  stomach, 
and  was  a  ruminating  animal.  Elliotson  introduced  him  to 
Rossetti,  and  was  (I  may  take  this  opportunity  of  saying)  our 
accustomed  family  doctor,  resolutely  refusing — for  he  was  a 
most  kind  and  generous  man — to  accept  any  fees  for  his 
valuable  advice.  Thackeray  dedicated  Pendennis  to  him. 
After  a  while  my  father  left  Moscati  to  ruminate  by  himself, 
and  they -became  avowed  enemies. 

Among  Italians  well  remembered  by  me,  some  are  men- 
tioned in  my  Notes  to  Dante  Rossetti's  letters  : — Filippo 
Pistrucci  (I  recollect  also,  though  faintly,  his  brother  Benedetto 
the  eminent  medallist,  who  designed  our  "  George-and-the- 
Dragon  "  coinage) ;  Sangiovanni,  the  clever  modeller  in  clay, 
the  most  picturesque  figure  of  all,  who  had,  I  believe,  "  knifed  " 
somebody  in  early  youth,  and  had  later  on  (chiefly  after  the 
suppression  of  the  Neapolitan  constitution  in  1821)  had  many 
a  romantic  adventure  in  the  kingdom,  as  captain  of  a  band  for 
the  suppression  of  brigandage,  which  bore  a  partly  politico- 
reactionary  character ;  the  Cavalier  Mortara ;  Baron  Calfapietra. 
Other  intimates  in  our  early  childhood  were — Janer  (he  subse- 
quently called  himself  Janer-Nardini),  a  Tuscan,  scholarly  and 
courteous,  keen  in  politics,  and  of  a  very  biting  tongue  ;  Cici- 
loni,  a  teacher  of  Italian,  of  high  character  in  all  respects,  who 
took  up  Rossetti's  work  at  some  times  when  the  latter  was  laid 
aside,  and  especially  during  his  very  severe  illness  in  1843  \ 
Foresti,  who  had  been  in  China  ;  Sarti,  the  plaster-cast  vendor; 
De'  Marsi,  a  teacher ;  Ferrari,  an  aged  musician  whom  blindness 
had  overtaken  ;  Sir  Michael  Costa,  the  musician  and  conductor, 
and  his  brother  Raffaele,  both  of  whom  we  saw  occasionally  ; 
Count  Carlo  Pepoli,  a  good-looking,  cultivated  Bolognese  of 
high  honour  and  ancient  family,  regarded  in  our  retired 
household  as  rather  a  dandy — he  had  been  addressed  in   a 


ACQUAINTANCES   IN   CHILDHOOD.  49 

striking  poetical  epistle  by  the  great  poet  Leopardi,  and 
eventually  an  English  lady  of  some  fortune  "  proposed  to 
him,"  and  he  married  her,  returned  to  Italy  when  liberal 
politics  prevailed  there,  and  died  a  Senator  of  the  realm  ; 
Rolandi,  the  bookseller,  a  very  worthy  man  of  small  stature  ; 
Count  Giuseppe  Ricciardi,  a  South  Neapolitan,  an  ardent 
patriot  of  the  revolutionary-republican  type.  I  remember 
seeing  once  or  twice  in  our  house  a  handsome  stately  lady, 
rather  advanced  in  years,  who  called  herself,  I  think,  Ida 
Saint  Elme.  She  was  the  daughter  of  a  Hungarian  nobleman, 
Leopold  de  Tolstoy,  had  led  an  agitated  and  far  from  correct 
life,  and  was  authoress  of  the  Memoires  d'une  Contem- 
poraine,  published  in  Paris  in  1827.  Two  old  friends  passed 
some  days  in  my  father's  house,  vaguely  remembered  by  me — 
Dr.  Curci,  and  Smargiassi,  the  latter  a  Vastese,  and  a  land- 
scape-painter of  considerable  name  in  the  Neapolitan  kingdom. 
Curci  had  quite  a  passionate  attachment  to  my  father,  and  I 
believe  visited  England  for  the  express  purpose  of  seeing  him 
once  again.  Later  on  were  Cornaro,  a  descendant  (and  I 
think  I  was  told  the  sole  remaining  descendant)  of  the  great 
Venetian  family — a  noticeable  man,  in  early  middle  age,  with 
long  nose  and  reddish  hair — he  was  said  to  be  an  inveterate 
gambler,  and  he  died  accidentally  by  drowning  ;  Parodi,  a 
dancing-master,  who  gave  us  lessons  in  dancing,  in  return  for 
Italian  lessons  imparted  to  his  son  by  my  father — he  was  a 
man  not  wanting  in  good  sense,  but  uninstructed  in  a  marked 
degree,  and  spoke  the  most  curious  lingo  that  I  ever  heard — 
French,  German,  and  English,  grafted  on  to  his  native  Italian  ; 
Aspa,  a  vigorous  Sicilian,  pianoforte-tuner  in  Broadwood's 
house ;  Gallenga,  the  political  and  miscellaneous  writer,  as 
expert  in  the  English  as  in  the  Italian  tongue ;  Dr.  Maron- 
celli,  brother  of  a  well-known  exile  who  suffered  a  rigid 
imprisonment ;  the  musician  Sperati ;  Signora  Monti  (after- 
wards Monti-Baraldi),  to  whom  some  of  Rossetti's  latest 
letters  were  written.  Dr.  Maroncelli  gave  him  some  medical 
advice  towards  1843  ;  and  later  on  another  doctor,  Gilioli, 
seemed  to  have  some  partial  success  in  treating  his  eyesight. 
VOL.  1.  4 


50  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Of  one  of  these  Italians,  Sangiovanni,  I  will  say  a  few  words 
further,  as  he  and  his  had  more  to  do  with  our  early  family  life 
than  any  of  the  others ;  Pistrucci  came  next  Sangiovanni 
was  a  tall  gaunt  man,  with  an  air  of  having  gone  through 
a  deal  of  wearing  work,  aged  about  fifty-two  when  I  first 
remember  him.  It  is  rather  a  curious  fact  that  two  Spanish 
painters,  having  to  depict  St.  Joseph,  adopted  a  type  of 
visage  not  at  all  unlike  Sangiovanni's,  but  in  each  instance 
(especially  the  second)  less  strained  and  rugged.  I  refer 
to  the  pictures  in  our  National  Gallery,  The  Adoration  of 
the  Shepherds,  by  Velasquez,  and  The  Holy  Family,  by 
Murillov  Of  school  knowledge  Sangiovanni  had  little,  but 
plenty  of  intelligence ;  of  religious  belief  (I  should  say) 
nothing ;  but  in  this  respect  he  was  on  a  par  with  a  large 
proportion  of  his  London  compatriots.  My  father  once 
narrated  to  him  the  story  of  the  Patriarch  Joseph,  from  the 
Book  of  Genesis,  which  came  perfectly  new  to  him,  and 
interested  him  extremely.  In  1833  he  went  over  to  America, 
on  business  proper  to  Achille  Murat,  to  look  after  an  estate 
and  its  slave-labourers.  In  the  United  States  he  saw  an 
Anglo-American  young  woman  whom  he  liked  ;  he  proposed 
for  her,  and  brought  her  back  to  England  as  his  wife.  She 
became  the  mother  of  an  ailing  boy,  Guglielmo.  Sangiovanni, 
as  a  husband,  was  not  unkind  in  his  way,  but  had  all  the 
jealousy  (perfectly  gratuitous  in  this  instance)  and  the 
dominance  of  a  Southern  Italian  ;  and  his  wife  was  almost 
a  prisoner  in  her  dingy  tenement,  Nassau  Street,  Marylebone, 
where  her  spouse  carried  on  his  clay-modelling  art.  My 
mother,  with  some  of  us  children,  often  looked  in  upon  her 
solitude,  and  held  her  in  deserved  esteem.  After  some  years 
she  came  to  understand  (I  know  not  how)  that  Sangiovanni 
was  already  a  married  man,  having  a  wife  still  living  in  Italy. 
This  was,  I  suppose,  true ;  and  not  less  true  that  Sangiovanni 
had  heard  nothing  of  his  first  wife  for  many  years,  and  had 
genuinely  believed  her  to  be  no  more.  About  the  same  time 
our  Mrs.  Sangiovanni  got  to  know  something  about  the 
Mormons  ;  so  one  day  she  vanished  with  her  son  to  Mormon- 


ACQUAINTANCES   IN   CHILDHOOD.  5 1 

land,  and  was  never  again  traced.  This  may  have  been  in 
1846.  Sangiovanni,  after  much  agitated  inquiry,  resumed  his 
ordinary  work,  and  he  died  at  Brighton  in  1853. 

Other  names  and  reminiscences  crowd  upon  me  as  I 
write.  There  was  an  odd  personage,  Albera,  whom  we  con- 
sidered not  entirely  sane.  He  was  a  great  believer  in  one 
of  the  professing  Dauphins  of  France,  Louis  XVII. — I  think 
this  one  was  the  so-called  Naundorf — and  he  insisted 
upon  taking  my  father  to  see  him,  and  believe  in  him  too. 
My  father  saw  him,  but  did  not  believe  in  him  ;  though  he 
allowed  that  Naundorf  looked  very  like  a  Bourbon,1  and  had 
a  daughter  resembling  Marie  Antoinette.  After  a  while  Naun- 
dorf took  to  a  sort  of  religious  revelation,  as  well  as  to 
Gallic  royalty,  and  my  father,  regarding  him  as  a  decided 
impostor,  visited  him  no  more.  Then  came  a  little  snuffy 
senile  Frenchman,  the  Comte  de  Neubourg,  who  was,  I  sup- 
pose, a  Legitimist  or  Carlist.  If  his  linen  was  not  spotless, 
his  manners  were  exquisitely  polite.  He  had  a  mania  for 
puns  ;  and,  when  my  father  was  conversing  on  some  subject 
with  his  usual  energetic  zest,  the  Comte  would  at  times  both 
embarrass  and  exasperate  him  by  interjecting  something 
which,  on  reflection,  proved  to  have  no  raison  d'etre  beyond 
punning.  Another  singular  person  was  the  "  Babylonish 
Princess "  (introduced  into  our  house  by  Cavalier  Mortara), 
"  Maria  Theresa  Asmar,  daughter  of  Emir  Abdallah  Asmar," 
who  published  her  Memoirs  in  two  volumes  in  1844.  She 
was  a  small,  very  dark  woman,  of  middle  age  and  subdued 
manners,  and  decidedly  plain.  A  Vastese  named  Rulli 
appeared  in  our  house  towards  1842,  and  made  some  pretence 
at  bringing  Dante  Rossetti  on  in  his  artistic  studies.  I  believe 
his  instruction  was  limited  to  propounding  to  the  youth,  for 
copying,  a   drawing  or  engraving   of  an  architectonic  ram's 

1  This  question  of  Naundorf,  or  of  other  persons  who  claimed  to  be 
Louis  XVII.,  has  of  late  acquired  added  importance,  as  it  seems  to  be 
established,  by  the  investigation  ordered  by  the  French  Government,  that 
the  remains  which  were  produced  and  medically  inspected  in  1795  as  being 
those  of  the  deceased  Louis  XVII,  cannot  really  have  been  his. 


52  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

head.  Rulli  appeared  to  us  an  unmeaning  and  not  easily 
intelligible  sort  of  character ;  he  had  something  in  him,  how- 
ever, for  he  died  in  a  battle  for  Italian  liberation.  An 
Avvocato  Teodorani  adopted,  and  even  wrote  or  lectured  on, 
some  of  Rossetti's  ideas  concerning  Dante  and  other  Italian 
poets ;  and  a  cultivated  gentleman,  De'  Filippi,  saw  a  good 
deal  of  his  closing  years.  A  native  of  the  Kingdom  of  Naples 
was  generally  to  be  known  (apart  from  dialect  or  physiog- 
nomy) by  his  addressing  my  father  as  "  Don  Gabriele  "—for 
that  mode  still  subsists  from  the  old  days  of  the  Spanish 
occupation.  To  other  Italians  my  father  was  "  Signor 
Rossetti,"  or  (if  on  a  formal  footing,  which  was  not  wont  to 
last  long)  "  Signor  Professore." 

The  determined  character  of  some  of  these  men  may  be 
illustrated  by  a  passage  from  a  letter  written  by  Gabriele 
Rossetti  in  April  185 1.  I  can  hardly  have  failed  to  see  the 
Galanti  here  mentioned,  but  I  do  not  remember  his  person. 

"  Hither  had  fled  from  Naples,  after  the  infamous  treason  of 
15  May  1848,  a  man  of  great  talent,  the  Avvocato  Giacinto 
Galanti,  who  piqued  himself  on  a  spirit  of  prophecy.  At  that  time 
our  national  affairs  were  flourishing ;  but  he  foresaw  disasters  which, 
since  then,  have  come  but  too  true.  One  evening  he  called  to  read 
me  a  writing  of  his  entitled  The  Three  Years,  1848  (it  was  just  in 
June  of  that  year),  1849,  an<^  1850.  The  first  of  these  three  years 
he  defined  as  a  Year  of  Roses  and  Thorns  (and  you  will  take  note 
that  the  thorns  had  not  yet  begun) ;  the  second,  Year  all  Thorns ; 
and  the  third,  Year  of  Death.  And  such,  haplessly,  they  all  turned 
out.  He  arraigned  the  Roman  Popedom  as  the  principal  cause  of 
all  the  reverses  which  he  foresaw  ;  and  Pius  IX.  was,  at  that  date,  still 
enacting  the  comedy  which  he  afterwards  turned  into  a  tragedy. 
On  hearing  that  writing  I  was  staggered ;  and  yet,  not  being  able 
then  to  give  credence  to  it,  I  smiled  incredulously,  and,  shaking  my 
head,  I  called  Galanti  a  bird  of  ill  omen  and  a  visionary.  He  rose 
incensed,  and  exclaimed  :  '  You  will  see  whether  I  speak  the  truth, 
and  you  will  confess  it ;  but  not  to  me,  for  I  will  not  await  the 
direful  time  that  is  coming  upon  us.'  Saying  this,  he  departed, 
returned  to  his  house,  not  far  from  mine,  and  cut  his  throat.  This 
terrible  event  produced  the  deepest  impression  on  me ;  and  soon 


ACQUAINTANCES  IN   CHILDHOOD.  53 

afterwards  began  our  disasters.  The  days  of  Novara,  Verona,  and 
Mantua,  ensued ;  and  then  the  flight  of  the  Impius  who  is  called 
Pius,  and  so  to  the  roses  succeeded  the  thorns.  Of  the  other  two 
years  I  do  not  speak ;  you  know  what  they  were." 

Towards  the  close  of  my  father's  life  various  protestantizing 
Italians,  most  of  them  ex-Catholic  priests,  got  about  him,  and 
worked  the  anti-papal  side  of  his  opinions  and  writings. 
They  started  a  review  called  the  Eco  di  Savonarola.  We 
did  not  relish  them  much,  though  we  thought  Crespi  and 
Di  Menna  (the  latter  a'  very  feeble-minded  personage)  honest 
in  their  views.  There  were  also  Ferretti  and  Mapei — the  last 
little  to  our  taste.  I  cannot  recollect  that  we  ever  saw  Gavazzi, 
the  admired  pulpit  orator,  but  we  certainly  did  see  Dr.  Achilli 
— whose  character  came  much  bespattered  out  of  his  action 
against  Cardinal  Newman  for  libel — a  heavy  beetle-browed 
man,  who  looked  fit  for  most  things  evil. 

I  have  not  yet  named  the  two  foremost  London-dwelling 
Italians  of  my  boyhood,  Mazzini  and  Panizzi.  That  great 
man,  Mazzini,  was  naturally  well  known  to  my  father,  and 
highly  esteemed  by  him — a  feeling  which  Mazzini  recipro- 
cated. They  dissented  however,  to  some  extent,  as  to  what 
should  be  regarded  as  practical  aims  to  work  for,  and  practical 
means  of  working.  Mazzini  was,  of  course,  for  a  republic, 
and  for  any  number  of  revolutionary  attempts,  even  though 
manifestly  destined  to  present  failure  ;  whereas  Rossetti  was 
fundamentally  for  a  unified  constitutional  monarchy,  and  for 
a  plan  of  action  which  would  preserve  rather  than  sacrifice 
valuable  lives.  Mazzini  was  perhaps,  of  the  two,  the  more 
nearly  in  the  right ;  for  it  seems  as  if  the  result  would  not, 
without  his  ceaseless  incitements,  have  been  attained  nearly 
so  soon  as  it  was.  I  do  not  think  that  I  ever  set  eyes  on 
Mazzini  in  my  father's  house  ;  but  I  well  remember  seeing 
him,  towards  1842,  at  a  meeting  attended  by  a  number  of 
poor  Italians,  organ-grinders  and  others,  for  whom  a  school 
was  being  started.  He  spoke  after  my  father  ;  and  the  noble, 
simple  utterance  of  the  word  with  which  he  began  his  address 
— "  Fratelli " — still  sounds  upon  my  ear.     As  to  Panizzi,  my 


54  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

father  knew  him  likewise  in  the  early  years  ;  but  he  under- 
stood (I  believe  correctly)  that  Panizzi  was  the  writer  of  an 
adverse  and  partly  sneering  critique  on  his  theories  concerning 
Dante  and  other  writers  ;  this  he  resented,  and  they  met  no 
more.  Garibaldi  and  Saffi,  who  came  into  fame  when  my 
father  was  declining  and  withdrawn  from  society,  he  never 
saw ;  nor  do  I  think  he  saw  the  patriot-assassin  Felice  Orsini, 
nor  Rufini,  author  of  the  admired  tale  Doctor  Antonio. 
General  Guglielmo  Pepe  he  had  known  very  intimately  in 
Naples,  and  they  kept  up  some  correspondence  to  a  late  date, 
when  Pepe  was  acting  as  one  of  the  heroic  defenders  of 
Venice,  1848-49 ;  but  the  General,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  never 
came  to  England. 

The  bete  noire  of  the  political  Italians  whom  we  so  con- 
stantly saw  was  the  King  of  the  French,  Louis  Philippe,  or 
Luigi  Filippo,  as  they  called  him.  He  was  more  abhorred, 
because  more  powerful  for  good  or  for  evil,  than  even  the 
Pope,  the  King  of  Naples,  or  the  pettier  tyrants  of  Italy.  Of 
course  too  he  was  regarded  as  a  traitor,  having  come  to  the 
throne  by  a  popular  revolution,  and  then  reinforced  the  cause 
of  retrogression  and  coercion.  There  were  also  the  Austrians 
— "  Gli  Austriaci  " — and  their  hell-hound  Metternich.  The 
number  of  times'  I  have  heard  Luigi  Filippo  denounced  would 
tax  the  resources  of  the  Calculating  Boy.  My  mind's  eye 
presents  a  curious  group,  though  it  seemed  natural  enough  at 
the  time.  My  father  and  three  or  four  foreigners  engaged  in 
animated  talk  on  the  affairs  of  Europe,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  patriotic  aspiration,  and  hope  long  deferred  till  it 
became  almost  hopeless,  with  frequent  and  fervent  recitations 
of  poetry  intervening ;  my  mother  quiet  but  interested,  and 
sometimes  taking  her  mild  womanly  part  in  the  conversation  ; 
and  we  four  children— Maria  more  especially,  with  her  dark 
Italian  countenance  and  rapt  eyes — drinking  it  all  in  as  a 
sort  of  necessary  atmosphere  of  the  daily  life,  yet  with  our 
own  little  interests  and  occupations  as  well — reading,  colouring 
prints,  looking  into  illustrated  books,  nursing  a  cat,  or  what- 
ever came  uppermost.     The  talk  was  essentially  of  a  serious 


ACQUAINTANCES  IN   CHILDHOOD.  55 

and  often  an  elevated  kind,  but  varied  with  any  amount  of 
lively  banter,  anecdote,  or  jest,  and  with  those  familiar  reminis- 
cences of  the  old  days  and  the  old  country  so  poignantly 
dear  to  the  exile's  heart. .  As  has  already  been  partly  indicated, 
no  period  passed,  even  in  our  infancy,  at  which  we  were  much 
less  capable  of  following  a  conversation  in  Italian  than  in 
English ;  and  we  could  pick  out  tolerably  something  of 
French  in  talk,  even  before  being  set  to  learn  the  language 
grammatically.  Italian  grammar  we — with  the  exception  of 
Maria — hardly  looked  into  at  all  as  a  matter  of  system,  and 
English  grammar  was  counted  as  pretty  well  explaining  itself. 

I  regard  it  as  more  than  probable  that  the  perpetual  excited 
and  of  course  one-sided  talk  about  Luigi  Filippo  and  other 
political  matters  had  something  to  do  with  the  marked  aliena- 
tion from  current  politics  which  characterized  my  brother  in 
his  adolescent  and  adult  years.  He  was  not  of  a  long-suffering 
temper,  and  may  have  thought  the  whole  affair  a  considerable 
nuisance  at  times,  and  resolved  that  he  at  least  would  leave 
Luigi  Filippo  and  the  other  potentates  of  Europe  and  their 
ministers,  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

I  find  some  remarks  in  John  Stuart  Mill's  Autobiography 
(1873)  which  appear  well  worth  attention  ;  here  I  quote  them 
as  indicating  the  kind  of  intellectual  savour  which  we  absorbed 
in  childhood,  and  which  I  conceive  to  have  been  eminently 
well  adapted  for  ripening  the  faculties  and  keeping  the 
feelings  undebased.  Mill,  it  will  be  perceived,  is  speaking  of 
French  (as  contrasted  with  English)  society,  but  what  he 
says  would  apply  in  a  general  way  to  those  Italians  whom  we 
were  in  the  habit  of  seeing ;  though  it  must  be  allowed  that 
several  of  them  were  commonplace  persons  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  the  term.  Mill  says,  speaking  of  the  fifteenth  year  of  his 
life — I  abridge  the  passage  here  and  there  : — 

"  The  greatest  perhaps  of  the  many  advantages  which  I  owed 
to  this  episode  in  my  education  was  that  of  having  breathed  for 
a  whole  year  the  free  and  genial  atmosphere  of  continental  life. 
Having  so  little  experience  of  English  life,  and  the  few  people 
I  knew  being  mostly  such  as  had  public  objects,  of  a  large  and 


56  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

personally  disinterested  kind,  at  heart,  I  was  ignorant  of  the  low 
moral  tone  of  what  in  England  is  called  Society ;  the  habit  of,  not 
indeed  professing,  but  taking  for  granted  in  every  mode  of  implica- 
tion, that  conduct  is  of  course  always  directed  towards  low  and 
petty  objects.  I  could  not  then  know  or  estimate  the  difference 
between  this  manner  of  existence,  and  that  of  a  people  like  the 
French,  whose  faults,  if  equally  real,  are  at  all  events  different; 
among  whom  sentiments,  which  by  comparison  at  least  may  be 
called  elevated,  are  the  current  coin  of  human  intercourse,  both  in 
books  and  in  private  life ;  and,  though  often  evaporating  in  pro- 
fession, are  yet  kept  alive  in  the  nation  at  large  by  constant  exercise, 
and  stimulated  by  sympathy,  so  as  to  form  a  living  and  active  part 
of  the  existence  of  great  numbers  of  persons,  and  to  be  recognized 
and  understood  by  all.  Neither  could  I  then  appreciate  the  general 
culture  of  the  understanding  which  results  from  the  habitual  exercise 
of  the  feelings,  and  is  thus  carried  down  into  the  most  uneducated 
classes  of  several  countries  on  the  continent,  in  a  degree  not  equalled 
in  England  among  the  so-called  educated,  except  where  an  unusual 
tenderness  of  conscience  leads  to  a  habitual  exercise  of  the  intellect 
on  questions  of  right  and  wrong.  I  even  then  felt,  though  without 
stating  it  clearly  to  myself,  the  contrast  between  the  frank  sociability 
and  amiability  of  French  personal  intercourse,  and  the  English  mode 
of  existence,  in  which  everybody  acts  as  if  everybody  else  (with  few 
or  no  exceptions)  was  either  an  enemy  or  a  bore.  In  France,  it  is 
true,  the  bad  as  well  as  the  good  points,  both  of  individual  and  of 
national  character,  come  more  to  the  surface,  and  break  out  more 
fearlessly  in  ordinary  intercourse,  than  in  England ;  but  the  general 
habit  of  the  people  is  to  show,  as  well  as  to  expect,  friendly  feeling 
in  every  one  towards'  every  other,  wherever  there  is  not  some 
positive  cause  for  the  opposite." 

I  will  add  here  one  word  or  two  on  the  contrary  side. 
I  think  that  the  base  passion  of  envy  is  more  common  among 
Italian  than  among  English  people  ;  likewise  a  certain  penu- 
rious or  stingy  habit,  which  may  however — among  the 
Italians  I  knew  in  boyhood — have  been  chiefly  due  to  the 
much  greater  expense  of  living  which  they  found  in  England, 
beyond  what  they  had  known  in  Italy.  To  spend  a  pound 
sterling  wore,  in  their  eyes,  a  different  aspect  from  what  it 


CHILDISH   BOOK-READING  AND  SCRIBBLING.  57 

does  in  a  Londoner's.  As  to  what  is  commonly  called 
"  morality,"  those  Italians  (so  far  as  I  can  review  them  now) 
look  to  me,  as  a  class,  quite  up  to  the  British  level  ;  but  of 
course  the  point  could  not  be  estimated  by  me  in  boyhood, 
and  since  the  close  of  my  father's  life  my  knowledge  of 
Italians  in  England  is  practically  a  blank  ;  and  the  same  was 
the  case  with  my  brother. 


VI. 
CHILDISH  BOOK-READING  AND  SCRIBBLING. 

Dante  Rossetti's  earliest  education  was  conducted  by  our 
mother ;  little  or  not  at  all  by  our  father,  apart  from  the 
general  mental  incitement  (and  this  assuredly  counted  for  a 
good  deal)  which  his  conversation,  his  using  the  Italian 
language,  and  his  readings  of  his  poems,  supplied.  I  may 
say  in  this  connexion  that  my  own  education — allowing 
for  the  moderate  difference  of  age — proceeded  pari  passu  with 
my  brother's  ;  and  that  my  two  sisters  owed  everything  in  the 
way  of  early  substantial  instruction  to  our  mother.  To  school 
they  never  went  at  all.  Thus  all  four  of  us  were  constantly 
together  in  infancy  and  childhood.  Wherever  one  was,  there 
the  other  was — and  that  was  almost  always  at  home.  In 
what  I  have  next  to  say  I  shall  aim  at  confining  myself  to 
Dante  Gabriel,  but  it  will  be  understood  that  what  is  true 
of  him  applies  mainly  to  the  other  three  children  as  well. 

Of  course  our  religious  mother  gave  Dante  some  rudiments 
of  Christian  knowledge,  from  the  Bible  and  the  "  Church 
Catechism,"  and  at  a  suitable  age  took  him  to  church.  He 
got  to  know  the  whole  Bible  fairly  well,  and  necessarily 
regarded  it  with  reverence  as  one  of  the  greatest  and 
sublimest  books  in  the  world.  Job,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the 
Apocalypse,  were  the  sections  of  the  Scripture  which,  before 
he  attained  manhood  and  ever  afterwards,  he  viewed  with 
peculiar  interest  and  homage.  He  must  have  been  able  to 
read  currently,  and  to  write  with  moderate  neatness,  soon 


58  DANTE   GABRIEL  R0SSETT1. 

after  completing  five  years  of  age.  His  early  reading  seems 
to  have  been  all  in  English  ;  although,  as  he  spoke  Italian, 
for  ordinary  household  purposes,  about  as  readily  as  English, 
and  as  the  reading  process  in  Italian  is  incomparably  the 
easier  of  the  two  for  a  beginner,  no  reason  is  apparent  to  me 
why  this  was  the  case. 

I  lately  came  across  two  letters  addressed  by  my  father  to 
my  mother,  August  and  September  1836,  which  give  a  clear 
indication  as  to  the  knowledge  of  Italian  then  possessed 
by  Dante,  in  his  ninth  year.  The  first  expresses  some 
surprise  at  finding  that  Dante  and  his  two  juniors  (Christina 
was  not  yet  six)  had  perfectly  understood  a  letter  in  Italian 
from  their  mother,  read  out  to  them.  In  his  second  letter, 
my  father  says  that  Dante  and  I,  having  received  notes  from 
Maria,  chanted  aloud,  with  great  demonstrations  of  glee,  the 
following  stave : — 

"  L'amabile  Maria 
Ringraziata  sia 
De'  due  biglietti  suoi 
Mandati  ad  ambi  noi."  1 

This  extemporized  effusion  must,  I  suppose,  have  been  the 
performance  of  Dante  Gabriel.  These  seem  to  be  the  first 
rhymes  he  ever  concocted,  and,  if  so,  he  rhymed  in  Italian 
earlier  than  in  English.  My  father  of  course  smiles  over 
verses  of  such  a  calibre — which  are,  nevertheless,  correct  in 
rhyme  and  rhythm,  and  not  (I  should  say)  wrong  in  diction. 

I  think  that  the  very  first  book  my  brother  took  to  with 
strong  personal  zest  was  Shakespear's  Hamlet — i.e.,  certain 
scenes  of  Hamlet,  giving  a  fairly  complete  idea  of  the  story, 
which  were  printed  to  accompany  the  outlines  to  that  tragedy 
engraved  after  the  then  universally  celebrated  German  artist, 
Retzsch.  Both  outlines  and  scenes  interested  him  vastly 
at  the  age  of  five,  or  it  may  be  even  of  four  ;  and  soon  a 
relative  (probably  one  of  our  aunts)  gave  him  a  Bowdler's 
Shakespear,  in  which  he  read  numerous  plays — and  indeed 

1  Thanks  to  good-natured  Maria  for  her  two  notes  sent  to  both  of  us. 


CHILDISH   BOOK-READING   AND   SCRIBBLING,  59 

he  read,  unchecked,  in  un-Bowdlerised  editions  as  well.  A 
little  incident  serves  to  fix  my  memory  as  to  dates  etc.  in 
this  matter.  Before  T  was  six  years  of  age,  and  therefore 
before  the  close  of  September  1835,  I  had  a  dangerous  gastric 
illness  ;  and,  while  I  was  recovering  from  that,  Dante  pro- 
duced for  my  diversion,  "  out  of  his  own  head,"  a  little  series 
of  drawn  and  coloured  figures  of  the  leading  personages  in 
the  three  parts  of  Henry  VI.  I  need  not  say  that  these 
were  childish  performances  in  the  most  absolute  sense.  He 
can  then  have  been  at  the  utmost  seven  years  and  four  months 
old,  and  was,  I  fancy,  some  months  younger.  The  trilogy 
of  Henry  VI.  was  a  great  favourite  with  all  of  us  ;  but, 
by  the  time  when  Dante  was  familiar  with  that  drama,  he 
was  not  less  versed  in  several  other  plays  of  Shakespear.  I 
might  with  confidence  specify  The  Tempest,  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream,  The  Merchant  of  Venice,  Henry  IV., 
Richard  III,  Romeo  and  Juliet,  Macbeth,  and  there  were 
others  as  well.  Of  four  of  these  we  had  outline-books 
similar  to  that  of  Hamlet — the  designs  by  Retzsch,  or  by 
a  less  prominent  German  artist,  Ruhl.  There  were  also 
Retzsch's  famous  outlines  to  Gothe's  Faust.  Through  these, 
with  their  accompanying  text  in  English,  my  brother  got  to 
know,  and  to  admire,  something  of  Faust,  not  very  long  after 
Hamlet.  Here  was,  at  any  rate,  a  good  beginning  for  taste 
in  poetry.  Two  other  books  with  similar  outlines  were 
Fridolin,  translated  from  Schiller  (which  we  thought  feeble 
stuff),  and  the  Dragon  of  Rhodes. 

The  next  immense  favourite  was  Walter  Scott.  Some  rela- 
tive presented  a  pocket-edition  of  Marmion  to  Dante  Rossetti 
at  a  very  childish  age.  He  ramped  through  it,  and  recited 
whole  pages  at  a  stretch — the  death  of  Constance,  the  battle 
and  death  of  Marmion,  etc.  Fitz-Eustace  was  regarded  as  a 
tame  and  correct-minded  character  rousing  no  interest.  The 
Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel  and  The  Lady  of  the  Lake  excited 
fully  as  much  delight  as  Marmion  ;  The  Lord  of  the  Isles  and 
Rokeby  only  a  little  less.  I  can  still  recollect  that  one  after- 
noon the  junior  master  at  our  first  school,  the  younger  Mr. 


60  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTl. 

Paul,  called  at  our  house  for  some  purpose,  and  found  us  all 
four  racing  and  tumbling  about  the  floor,  repeating  in  semi- 
drama  the  Battle  of  Clan  Alpin,  from  The  Lady  of  the  Lake, 
Dante  was  then  just  about  nine  years  of  age.  Along  with 
Scott's  poems  the  Arabian  Nights  went  on  at  a  great  rate  ; 
the  old  English  translation  after  Galland,  and  not  long  after- 
wards Lane's  very  different  version.  TJie  Waverley  Novels 
ensued  pretty  soon  after  the  poems — Ivanhoe  (the  prime 
favourite),  Kenilworth,  Quentin  Durward,  etc.  It  may  perhaps 
be  as  well  to  give  here  the  opinion  which,  at  a  mature  age, 
Dante  Rossetti  entertained  of  Walter  Scott's  novels.  It  is 
expressed  in  a  letter  of  October  1871,  addressed  to  Mr. 
William  Bell  Scott  :— 

"  I  have  read  several  of  Scott's  novels  here,  and  been  surprised 
both  at  their  usual  melodramatic  absurdities  of  plot,  and  their 
astounding  command  of  character  in  the  personages  by  whom  all 
these  improbabilities  are  enacted.  The  novels  are  wonderful  works, 
with  all  their  faults.  Guy  Mannering  and  St.  Ronarts  Well — 
neither  of  which  I  knew  before — delighted  me  extremely.  Another 
I  read  is  The  Fair  Maid  of  Perth ;  which  is  on  a  level  with  the 
Victoria  drama  in  some  respects,  but,  in  some  points  of  conception 
and  vivid  reality  in  parts,  can  only  be  compared  to  the  greatest 
imaginative  works  existing." 

These  books — Shakespear,  Faust,  Scott,  and  the  Arabian 
Nights — and,  along  with  these,  Keightley's  Fairy  Mytho- 
logy (mentioned  in  a  previous  section),  Monk  Lewis's  verse- 
collection  Tales  of  Wonder  {Alonzo  the  Brave,  etc.),  and  the 
stirring  ballad  of  Chevy  Chase — may  certainly  be  regarded 
as  the  staple  and  the  fine  fieur  of  what  Dante  Rossetti 
revelled  in  up  to  the  close  of  his  tenth  year  or  there- 
abouts. He  always  discerned  the  difference  between  the 
"Ghost  in  Hamlet"  and  a  ghost  by  Monk  Lewis.  Other 
things  are  present  to  me  as  well :  Carleton's  Traits  and 
Stories  of  the  Irish  Peasantry,  Robinson  Crusoe,  Gulliver, 
Gay's  Fables,  Pascal  Bruno  (a  tale  translated  from  Dumas)} 
Fitzgreene  Halleck's  short  poem    of  Marco  Bozaris,  an  in- 


CHILDISH   BOOK-READING   AND   SCRIBBLING.  6 1 

cident  of  the  Greek  War  of  Independence.  Of  Burns  he 
had  a  kind  of  idea,  through  looking  into  an  edition  sparsely 
illustrated  by  Westall ;  but  the  dialect  was  a  bar  to  his 
taking  very  kindly  to  the  poems.  Lamb's  Tales  from 
Shakespear  he  skimmed  and  slighted.  Of  directly  "funny" 
things  I  remember  only  John  Gilpin  and  some  jocosities 
of  Hood  in  a  Comic  Annual.  Naturally,  too,  there  were  the 
old  nursery-rhymes  in  infantine  years,  and  The  Peacock  at 
Home ;  and  the  old  Fairy-tales,  such  as  Puss  in  Boots,  Blue- 
beard, Cinderella,  Jack  the  Giant-Killer,  Beauty  and  the 
Beast,  etc.  Our  mother  kept  us  adequately  supplied  with 
books  having  a  directly  religious  or  didactic  aim — stories 
about  "  good  little  boys  and  girls,"  or  the  alternative  naughty 
ones,  and  other  such  matter  ;  but  she,  like  a  sensible  woman, 
did  not  tie  us  down  to  liking  them,  in  case  we  happened  to 
dislike  them — which  we  generally  did.  There  were  some 
of  Miss  Edgeworth's  stories  for  children,  such  as  Frank ; 
Day's  Sandford  and  Merton  ;  The  Fairchild  Family,  by  Mrs. 
Sherwood,  which  last  we  were  far  from  relishing.  The  one 
which  I  recollect  as  best  esteemed  was  The  Son  of  a  Genius, 
by  Mrs.  Hofland  ;  a  companion  story  was  The  Daughter  of  a 
Genius.  A  minute  edition  of  Stories  from  English  History, 
by  James  Mill,  was  very  frequently  in  our  hands,  with  prints 
— the  Druids  burning  victims  in  wicker  cages  to  their  gods, 
Queen  Margaret  and  the  Robber,  and  so  on. 

Illustrated  books  and  engravings  were  not  very  numerous 
in  our  house,  but  still  in  fair  quantity.  One  that  Dante  and 
the  rest  of  us  looked  at  continually,  beginning  well  nigh  in 
infancy,  was  an  old-fashioned  little  book  (1700)  in  the  Dutch 
language,  named  Metamorphosis  Naturalis,  by  a  painter 
(Goedaerdt),  with  coloured  prints  of  insects  and  their  trans- 
formations. Blank  wonderment,  with  much  of  stimulating 
pleasure  and  something  of  repulsion,  was  the  result.  Later 
on,  and  never  tired  of,  came  Martin  and  WestaWs  Illus- 
trations of  the  Bible ;  and  to  his  last  day  Dante  would  have 
told  you  that  Martin  was  an  imaginative  pictorial  genius  of 
no  mean  power.     Afterwards  some  one  gave  him  a  book  of 


62  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

rather  large  outline  engravings  from  Scripture,  after  the  Old 
Masters — emptyish-looking  things  which  he  frequently  in- 
spected, with  little  real  sympathy.  I  have  always  thought 
that  his  indifference  to  the  respectable  conventions  of  Old- 
Masterhood,  leading  on  to  the  Praeraphaelite  movement,  had 
something  to  do  with  this  book.  Our  grandfather  had  at 
Holmer  Green  some  engravings  after  Rubens,  the  subjects 
from  the  story  of  Achilles.  They  met  his  fancy  in  a  certain 
way,  but  he  did  not  like  their  fleshy  forms  and  florid  manner. 
Also  (belonging  probably  to  Eliza  Polidori)  a  book  of  English 
engravings  from  Raphael's  Cartoons,  with  highly  laudatory 
descriptions.  Another  of  our  grandfather's  possessions  was 
a  fine  large  edition  of  Ariosto,  with  French  engravings  of 
last  century.  These  were  an  endless  delight  to  Dante,  from 
the  age  of  eleven  or  so  onwards.  He  owned  much  earlier,  as 
a  present  from  the  same  relative,  a  little  book  of  French  or 
Flemish  woodcut-illustrations  to  Bible  history,  dating  towards 
1580.  They  were  probably  artistic  things  of  their  kind,  and 
he  enjoyed  their  arbitrary  treatment  and  unreasonable 
costumes.  Among  our  father's  books  were  a  Poliphili 
Hypnerotomachia ;  Gombauld's  Endymion,  in  English,  with 
engravings,  dated  1639 ;  and  a  volume  of  pagan  mytho- 
logy with  startling  woodcuts  of  about  the  early  seventeenth 
century- — I  presume  it  to  have  been  the  De  Naturd  Deorum 
of  Boccaccio.  All  these  Dante  inspected  from  time  to  time} 
with  some  gusto  not  unmingled  with  awe — each  book  being 
pronounced  by  our  father  to  be  a  " libro sommamente  mistical" 
according  to  his  system  of  interpretation  of  mediaeval  and 
renaissance  literature.  In  his  opening  years  no  prints  were 
more  frequently  in  Dante's  hands  than  a  series  of  litho- 
graphs from  Roman  history,  the  work  of  Filippo  Pistrucci 
(there  was  also  a  different  series,  coloured  allegorical  designs)  ; 
not  very  superior  efforts  of  art,  but  far  from  being  amiss  in 
treatment  of  the  subjects.  At  one  time,  after  Dante  had 
passed  out  of  mere  childhood,  some  one   brought  into  our 

1  Book  in  the  highest  degree  mystical. 


CHILDISH   BOOK-READING   AND   SCRIBBLING.  6$ 

house  Pinelli's  outlines  from  Roman  history.  These  we 
admired  most  heartily,  and  I  suppose  with  good  reason. 
Some  of  Pinelli's  subjects  of  Italian  peasant  and  street  life 
we  knew  already.  Various  other  prints  and  drawings  occur 
to  my  mind  ;  but  somewhere  I  must  stop,  and  I  stop  here. 
Occasionally — it  seems  to  me  by  no  means  often — he  went 
to  the  National  Gallery  in  childhood.  Mr.  Frederick  J. 
Shields  has  recorded  an  interesting  point  that  he  heard  from 
Dante  Rossetti,  who  mentioned  it  to  show  the  sound  direction 
which,  in  many  instances,  his  mother  gave  to  his  taste.  On 
his  first  visit  to  the  National  Gallery — he  may,  I  suppose,  have 
been  then  just  ten  years  of  age  1 — he  was  inclined  to  admire 
the  big,  showy,  and  (to  an  untrained  eye)  somewhat  telling 
picture  by  Benjamin  West,  Christ  Jiealing  the  Sick ;  but  his 
mother,  who  made  no  pretence  to  technical  knowledge  in  art, 
at  once  set  him  right  by  remarking  that  it  was  "  common- 
place and  expressionless."  What  two  epithets  could  go  closer 
to  the  root  of  the  thing  ? 

It  has  often  been  said,  by  writers  who  know  nothing  very 
definite  about  the  matter,  that  Dante  Rossetti  was,  from 
childhood  or  early  boyhood,  a  devoted  admirer  of  the 
stupendous  poet  after  whom  he  was  christened.  This  is  a 
mistake.  No  doubt  our  father's  Dantesque  studies  saturated 
the  household  air  with  wafts  and  rumours  of  the  mighty 
Alighieri  ;  therefore  the  child  breathed  Dante  (so  to  speak), 
but  he  did  not  think  Dante,  nor  lay  him  to  heart.  On  the 
contrary,  our  father's  speculations  and  talk  about  Dante — 
which,  although  he  highly  valued  the  poetry  as  such,  all  took 
an  abstruse  or  theoretic  turn — rather  alienated  my  brother 
than  otherwise,  and  withheld  him  from  "  looking  up "  the 
Florentine,  to  see  whether  his  poems  were  things  readable, 
like  those  of  Shakespear,  Scott,  or  Gothe.  With  all  of  us 
children    the   case   was   the   same.     I   question  whether  my 

1  The  National  Gallery,  in  its  present  building,  opened  to  the  public  in 
April  1838.  The  first  nucleus  of  the  collection  had  previously  been 
housed  in  Pall  Mall,  but  I  surmise  that  none  of  my  family  ever  went 
there. 


64  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

brother  had  ever  read  twenty  consecutive  lines  of  Dante  until 
he  was  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age ;  no  doubt  after 
that  he  rapidly  made  up  for  lost  time.  Our  father,  when 
writing  about  the  Comedia  or  the  Vita  Nuova,  was  seen 
surrounded  by  ponderous  folios  in  italic  type,  "  libri  mistici" 
and  the  like  (often  about  alchemy,  freemasonry,  Brahminism> 
Swedenborg,  the  Cabbala,  etc.),  and  filling  page  after  page  of 
prose,  in  impeccable  handwriting,  full  of  underscorings,  inter- 
lineations, and  cancellings.  We  contemplated  his  labours  with 
a  certain  hushed  feeling,  which  partook  of  respect  and  also  of 
levity,  but  were  assuredly  not  much  tempted  to  take  up  one 
of  his  books,  and  see  whether  it  would  "  do  to  read."  The 
Convito  was  always  a  name  of  dread  to  us,  as  being  the 
very  essence  of  arid  unreadableness.  Dante  Alighieri  was  a 
sort  of  banshee  in  the  Charlotte  Street  houses ;  his  shriek 
audible  even  to  familiarity,  but  the  message  of  it  not 
scrutinized. 

As  to  all  this,  a  passage  in  my  brother's  Preface  to  his 
book  Dante  and  his  Circle  ought  to  have  prevented  any 
misapprehension  concerning  the  supposed  constant  reading  of 
Alighieri  in  very  childish  years.     He  says : — 

"The  first  associations  I  have  are  connected  with  my  father's 
devoted  studies,  which,  from  his  own  point  of  view,  have  done  so 
much  towards  the  general  investigation  of  Dante's  writings.  Thus, 
in  those  early  days,  all  around  me  partook  of  the  influence  of  the 
great  Florentine ;  till,  from  viewing  it  as  a  natural  element,  I  also, 
growing  older,  was  drawn  within  the  circle." 

There  was  an  English  artist  named  Seymour  Kirkup, 
domiciled  in  Florence.  He  was  made  a  Barone  of  the  Italian 
Kingdom,  and  must  be  remembered  by  many  persons  now 
living,  as  he  only  died  towards  1879,  aged  ninety-two  or 
thereabouts.  He  was  an  enthusiast  for  Dante,  and  was  a 
profound  believer  in  my  father's  scheme  of  Dantesque  inter- 
pretation. He  began  corresponding  with  my  father  towards 
1837,  and  kept  this  up  for  several  years.  It  was  in  1839  that  he 
took  a  leading  part  in  discovering  the  portrait  of  the  youthful 


CHILDISH   BOOK-READING   AND   SCRIBBLING.  65 

Dante,  by  Giotto,  in  the  Bargello  of  Florence,  long  lost  under 
whitewash.  He  made  at  once  a  good  full-sized  coloured 
drawing  of  this  invaluable  portrait  (now,  sad  to  say,  no  longer 
in  a  perfectly  authentic  state),  and  sent  the  drawing  as  a 
present  to  my  father ;  from  him  it  came  to  my  brother,  and 
was  only  disposed  of  in  the  sale  of  his  effects  which  followed 
his  death  in  1882.  The  receipt  of  this  portrait  probably  put 
the  mind  and  feelings  of  Dante  Rossetti  as  much  en  rapport 
with  the  Florentine  poet  as  any  incident  which  had  preceded 
it ;  but  even  so  he  did  not  take  any  immediate  steps  for 
acquainting  himself  with  the  poems. 

My  brother's  first  "  poem  " — his  almost  solitary  drama x— 
was  written  in  his  own  handwriting,  towards  the  age  of  five. 
He  may  have  been  just  six,  rather  than  five,  but  I  am  not 
certain.  It  is  entitled  The  Slave,  and  it  lies  before  me  at 
this  moment.  Why  he  wrote  The  Slave,  or  what  he  sup- 
posed himself  to  mean  in  writing  it,  is  not  clear  to  me.  One 
can,  however,  form  one  safe  inference — that  his  inspiration 
derived  from  seeing, passim  in  Shakespear,  the  words  "Slave, 
Traitor,  Villain,"  and  what  not.  The  Slave  consists  of  three 
Scenes  in  two  "  Acts  "  ;  it  only  fills  nine  small  pages  of  large 
writing.  The  writing  begins  by  imitating  print,  but  goes  on 
into  an  ordinary  (very  childish)  cursive  hand.  Probably 
Dante  Gabriel  learned  how  to  write  cursively  while  the  drama 
was  in  course  of  composition.  It  surprises  me  to  note  that  the 
spelling  is  strictly  correct :  the  blank  verse  (when  it  occurs, 
for  some  parts  are  in  truncated  verse,  or  practical  prose)  is 
also  correct  enough — as  here  : — 

"Ho,  if  thou  be  alive,  come  out  and  fight  me!" 

"  Down,  slave,  I  dare  thee  on !     Coward,  thou  diest ! " 

"But  yet  I  will  not  live  to  see  thee  thus." 

This  matter  of  versification  correct  in  accent  and  number  of 
feet,  however  puerile  in  other  respects,  may  to  some  readers 
seem  stranger  than  it  does  to  me ;  for  I  cannot,  with  reference 

1  I  say  "almost  solitary,"  because  I  possess  another  trifle  in  the  dramatic 
form— a  mere  piece  of  grotesque  banter — of  a  late  date,  1878, 
VOL.   I.  5 


66  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

to  any  one  of  us  four,  remember  any  time  when,  knowing 
what  a  verse  was,  we  did  not  also  know  and  feel  what  a 
correct  verse  was.  The  early  reading  of  really  good  poetry, 
and  perhaps  quite  as  much  the  constant  hearing  of  our 
father's  verses  recited  with  perfect  articulation  and  emphasis, 
may  account  for  this. 

The  Dramatis  Personcz  of  The  Slave  are  set  down 
thus  : — "  Don  Manuel,  a  Spanish  Lord  ;  Traitor,  an  Officer  ; 
Slave,  a  Servant  to  Traitor;  Mortimer,  an.  English  Knight; 
Guards,  Messengers,  etc."  No  plot  is  apparent,  only  constant 
objurgation  and  fighting.  The  utmost  stretch  of  conjecture 
as  to  a  plot  would  amount  simply  to  this  :  Don  Manuel  is 
entitled  to  the  allegiance  of  Traitor,  who  has  deserted  him, 
and  sides  with  Mortimer ;  Slave  is  viewed  with  suspicion  by 
all  three  ;  Traitor,  getting  the  worst  of  it  in  a  fight,  kills  him- 
self ;  Mortimer,  as  an  act  of  condolence  for  Traitor,  kills 
himself ;  Slave  is  killed  by  Don  Manuel,  who  is  left  surviving, 
faute  de  mieux.  It  will  be  observed  that  there  is  no  "  female 
interest "  in  the  The  Slave ;  and  in  fact  the  "  gushing  or 
ecstatic  female  "  was,  to  all  us  infants,  a  personage  less  provo- 
cative of  sentiment  than  of  mirth.  Often  and  fatuously  did 
we  laugh  over  Coleridge's  poem  of  Love  [Genevieve) — the 
very  poem  which,  in  an  edition  of  Coleridge  that  I  possess, 
my  brother,  in  one  of  his  latest  years,  marked  with  the  word 
"  Perfection." 

In  the  same  minute  paper-book  which  contains  The  Slave 
Dante  followed  on,  in  a  rather  less  rudimentary  handwriting, 
with  The  Beauties  of  Shakespeare.  These  consist  singly  of 
Portia's  speech,  "  The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained." 
Then  comes  Aladdin,  or  The  Wonderful  Lamp,  by  Gabriel 
Rossetti,  Painter  of  Play-Pictures  (this  refers  to  his  constant 
industry  in  colouring  prints  of  stage-characters).  Aladdin 
is  in  prose,  and  only  a  few  lines  were  written,  totally 
uninteresting.  The  sole  amusing  point  about  it  is  the  List 
of  Personages,  which  are  assigned  to  such  minor  performers 
as  "  Mrs.  Siddons,  Mr.  Kemble,  Mr.  Kean,"  and  others  whose 
names  he  got  no  doubt  from  his  theatrical  prints.     The  three 


CHILDISH   BOOK-READING  AND   SCRIBBLING.  6y 

above  named  were  already  dead  at  the  time.  Mrs.  Siddons, 
and  more  particularly  Kemble  (John  Philip),  had  been  well 
known — I  may  here  observe — to  Gaetano  Polidori.  After 
Aladdin,  a  few  pages  of  the  book  are  filled  with  drawings 
(of  a  kind).  One  is  Guy  Fawkes,  with  lantern  and  dagger. 
He  is  done  in  heavy  ink-silhouette,  which  is  blotted  down 
upon  the  page  that  faces  him. 

And  so  much  for  The  Slave  and  its  adjuncts  ;  which  I 
might  barely  have  mentioned,  but  for  the  fact  that  this 
"  drama "  has  been  adverted  to  in  print  before  now,  and  it 
seemed  desirable  to  settle  once  for  all  what  it  amounted  to. 

I  must  say  a  little  more  about  infantine  drawings — some 
in  pencil,  most  in  pen  and  ink,  many  of  them  coloured.  Two 
represent  his  dormouse  "  Dwanging  "  ;  and,  as  Dwanging  (so 
it  appears  to  me)  hardly  existed  at  a  date  later  than  the 
completion  of  Dante's  sixth  year  (12  May  1834),  these 
must  be  extremely  early  affairs,  not  wholly  unlike  the  look 
of  the  animal.  To  1834  belongs  also  (as  I  have  said)  a 
portrait  of  his  rocking-horse.  These  three  are  so  far  tolerable 
as  to  show  that  it  was  a  pity  he  did  not  draw  a  little  oftener 
from  actual  objects,  but  almost  always  mere  inventions 
(such  as  they  were),  prompted  to  a  large  extent  by  his 
theatrical-character  prints,  with  straddling  legs  and  irrational 
pretences  at  costume.  One  that  seems  to  my  memory  very 
early  indeed  is  Macbeth  contemplating  the  aerial  dagger. 
A  little  book  of  childish  drawings  exists,  chiefly  from  various 
plays.  I  will  only  name  one  subject  from  each  play,  as 
marked  in  our  mother's  handwriting — a  pretty  good  indica- 
tion that  Dante  himself  was  barely  competent  to  write  neatly 
at  the  time.  These  comprise  Talbot  rescuing  his  son  John 
from  Orleans  (Shakespear's  Henry  VI.);  Buckingham  and 
Catesby  presenting  the  crown  to  RicJiard ;  Prince  Henry  throw- 
ing Falstajfs  bottle  of  sack  at  him  ;  Combat  between  Macbeth 
and  young  Siward ;  Casca  stabbing  Ccesar  ;  Rolla  carrying  off 
the  Child  (from  Sheridan's  Pizarro). 

In   concluding   this  account   of  Dante    Rossetti's   earliest 
years,  I  must  observe  that  he  was  certainly  fortunate  in  his 


68  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

family  surroundings.  His  father  was  a  poet  and  man  of 
letters,  his  grandfather  the  same  ;  his  mother  had  a  good 
appreciation  of  literary  matters  ;  his  sisters  and  brother  all 
watched  with  interest  and  seconded  with  zest  whatever  he 
did  as  a  beginning  at  writing  and  at  drawing.  He  had  also 
the  vast  advantage  of  speaking  two  languages,  of  which  one 
served  as  a  direct  introduction  to  Latin.  In  no  quarter  did 
he  encounter  anything  to  thwart  his  inclinations,  to  divert 
his  steps,  or  to  throw  cold  water  on  his  small  performances. 
He  was  not  wilfully  spoiled  nor  absurdly  petted,  nor  was  any 
difference  made  between  him  and  the  other  children  ;  but  he 
felt  himself  to  be  encouraged  as  well  as  loved,  and  in  most 
matters  he  had  his  own  way.  This,  with  the  temper  which 
was  innate  in  him,  he  would  perhaps  have  got  anyhow ;  as 
things  went,  he  got  it  unenforced.  Naturally  this  favourable 
condition  of  family  relations  continued  to  grow  with  his 
growth. 


VII. 
SCHOOL. 

It  must  have  been  after  the  midsummer  holidays  of  1836 
that  Dante  Rossetti  first  went  to  school  ;  I  followed  him 
after  the  Christmas  holidays.  The  school  was  that  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Paul,  in  Foley  Street,  Portland  Place — a  day- 
school  for  most  of  the  pupils,  or  perhaps  all.  There  was,  I 
think,  only  one  assistant  master,  Mr.  Paul's  son.  The  pupils 
were  not  numerous — say  twenty-five  to  thirty-five.  They 
must  chiefly  have  been  sons  of  local  tradesmen.  I  remember 
one  set  of  boys — three  brothers^of  gentle  birth  and  breeding, 
the  Cummings  ;  also  Aikman,  who  (I  have  an  impression) 
became  an  officer  of  some  distinction  in  the  Indian  army. 
We  were  instructed  in  some  rudimentary  matters — writing, 
arithmetic  (Dante  Gabriel  was  always  bad  at  this,  and  to  the 
end  of  his  days  I  fancy  he  would  have  been  at  fault  here  and 
there  in  the  multiplication  table),  English  grammar,  geography, 


SCHOOL.  69 

history,  and  the  first  steps  in  Latin.  We  also  had  to  do 
a  "  theme  "  once  or  twice — a  composition  upon  some  given 
subject ; 1  and  we  received  some  little  drawing  tuition  from 
a  French  Master,  M.  Abeille,  whom  we  considered  deft  in 
his  touch  of  foliage.  We  liked  the  younger  Mr.  Paul  ; 
to  the  elder  we  had — and  ought  to  have  had — no  objection, 
but  I  remember  little  of  him.  One  of  my  few  individual 
recollections  of  the  school  is  that  of  hearing  there  the  tolling 
bell  which  announced  the  death  of  King  William  the  Fourth. 
Among  our  school-books  was  a  volume  of  selections,  prose 
and  poetry,  named  The  Rhetorical  Class-book,  containing  such 
pieces  as  Campbell's  LochieVs  Warning,  and  his  Last  Man, 
with  marginal  directions  as  to  the  proper  tone,  inflexion, 
gesture,  etc.,  for  reciting  them.  We  enjoyed  a  great  deal  of  the 
text  in  this  book,  and  giggled  over  the  directions — having 
always  had  in  our  father,  and  indeed  in  our  mother  too, 
models  that  would  have  bettered  that  form  of  instruction. 

An  English  school  such  as  that  of  Mr.  Paul  (and  I  must 
say  the  same  of  King's  College  School,  to  which  we  went 
afterwards)  is  not  an  academy  of  good  manners,  nor  yet  of 
high  thinking  ;  and  it  would  be  too  true  to  acknowledge  that 
Dante  Rossetti  rapidly  deteriorated  here.  I  would  add  the 
same  very  emphatically  of  myself,  but  that  I  am  not  exactly 
in  question,  and  need  not  intrude  my  small  personality.  At 
home  he  had  witnessed  nothing  but  resolute  and  cheerful 
performance  of  duty,  and  heard  nothing  that  was  not  pure 
right,  high-minded,  and  looking  to  loftier  things.  School  first 
brought  him  face  to  face  with  that  which  is  "  common  and 
unclean."  There  is  always  some  nasty-thinking  boy  to 
egg-on  his  juniors  upon  a  path  of  unsavouriness.     A  certain 

1  If  the  reader  would  like  a  laugh,  he  may  perhaps  get  it  out  of  the 
following.  One  of  the  schoolboys  (I  do  not  mean  either  Dante  or  myself) 
was  told  to  do  a  theme  on  Candour,  His  theme — I  have  never  forgotten 
it — was  in  the  following  words,  as  near  as  may  be  :  "  My  dear  father — -I 
want  to  write  to  you  on  the  subject  of  Candour.  He  is  a  most  benevolent, 
candid,  honourable,  sordid,  and  surly  young  man.  His  friends  love  him 
dearly." 


yo  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

A.  (his  initial  shall  stand  instead  of  his  name),  who  sat  next 
to  Dante  Gabriel,  beset  him  with  promptings  of  a  worse  than 
useless  kind.  One  thing  was  pointing  out  phrases  in  the  Bible 
which  he  held  to  be  vastly  amusing,  but  which  little  Dante  did 
not  want  to  be  teazed  with.  Dante  mentioned  the  matter  to 
his  father,  who  conferred  with  Mr.  Paul ;  and  A.  was  ordered 
to  take  a  different  seat  in  the  school,  and  stick  to  it.  This  is 
nearly  all  that  I  remember  in  a  definite  way  about  Mr.  Paul's 
school.  Dante  was  a  ready  learner,  and  a  willing  one  enough. 
The  last  performance,  as  the  school  was  breaking  up  for  the 
holidays,  was  an  evening  of  recitations  in  the  presence  of 
parents  and  friends.  Dante  delivered  (from  Shakespear's 
Julius  CcEsar)  the  speech  of  Antony  over  the  body  of  Caesar,  and 
I  the  speech  of  Brutus.  We  were  clapped  to  our  heart's  content. 
As  a  Professor  in  King's  College,  Gabriele  Rossetti  was 
entitled  to  send  one  son  to  the  day-school  there  free  of  charge, 
and  a  second  son  at  reduced  fees.  It  had  therefore  always 
been  intended  that  we  boys  should  go  to  that  school  as  soon 
as  a  little  preliminary  instruction  had  been  gained  at  Mr. 
Paul's  establishment  ;  and  thither  accordingly  we  went  after 
the  midsummer  holidays  of  1837.  Dante  was  rightfully  ad- 
missible, having  attained  the  regulation  age  of  nine  ;  I  was 
not  so,  being  not  quite  eight,  but  was  allowed  to  pass  muster. 
As  this  is  a  day-school  (although  a  few  pupils  were  housed 
as  boarders),  we  went  daily  to  and  fro.  At  first  we  took  the 
route  by  Regent  Street  and  the  Strand  to  Somerset  House, 
but  afterwards  preferred  the  more  plebeian,  and  to  us  more 
amusing,  shops  of  Tottenham  Court  Road  and  St.  Giles's 
(no  New  Oxford  Street  then  existed).  The  Head  Master 
was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Major,  of  whom,  in  Dante  Gabriel's  time, 
we  saw  little.  The  Principal  was  Dr.  Lonsdale,  Bishop  of 
Lichfield.  The  school  was  then,  as  it  is  now,  of  strict  Church- 
of  England  principle,  and  most  of  the  masters  were  clergymen. 
On  one  or  two  occasions  I  saw  prizes  distributed  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Dr.  Howley — a  little  old  man, 
still  wearing  the  episcopal  white  wig,  of  the  gentlest  manner 
and  address,  almost  apologetic  to  the  students  (so  it  seemed) 


school.  yi 

for  so  far  putting  himself  forward.  He  was — in  regard  at  least 
to  aspect  and  demeanour — anything  but  one  of  those  vescovi 
pettorati  (bishops  high  in  flesh)  who  were  frequently  in  my 
father's  mouth  ;  for  the  latter  disliked  the  worldly  well-being 
and  brow-beating  respectability  of  the  Anglican  clergy  only 
a  little  less  than  the  arrogant  bigotry  of  their  Roman  com- 
peers. The  great  prize-receiver  in  those  days  was  Arthur 
Cayley,  the  pre-eminent  Cambridge  Mathematician,  who 
would  come  up  for  three  or  four  successive  prizes  in  one 
afternoon.  His  younger  brother,  Charles  Bagot  Cayley,  was 
one  of  my  father's  pupils  in  Italian,  and  learned  the  language 
admirably,  as  shown  by  his  fine  translations  of  Dante  and 
Petrarca — a  most  estimable  scholarly  man,  without  a  taint 
of  mundane  self-seeking.  I  forget  how  many  languages  he 
knew.  If  he  did  not  know  one,  he  only  had  to  learn  it. 
He  was  once  asked,  by  some  missionary  or  other  society, 
to  translate  the  Gospels  for  the  Iroquois.  He  went  to  the 
British  Museum  Library,  looked  up  an  Iroquois  grammar  or 
two,  and,  at  the  end  of  six  weeks  or  so,  he  undertook  the 
task,  and  performed  it. 

My  brother  and  myself  entered  King's  College  School  in 
the  lowest  class — the  Lower  First — of  which  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hayes  was  the  Master.  Some  schoolboy  called  him  "  Ban- 
tam," from  his  red  complexion  and  facial  angle  ;  and  every 
other  schoolboy  followed  suit.  To  us  he  was  kind  ;  and  he 
perhaps  stretched  a  point  by  returning  our  "  characters,"  in 
the  first  quarterly  report,  as  "in  every  respect  satisfactory  "  for 
Dante,  and  for  myself  "  in  the  highest  degree  commendable." 
Some  other  good  reports  of  us  may  have  followed,  but 
certainly  none  so  flowery  as  that. 

Dante  Rossetti's  school-life  at  King's  College  lasted  just 
five  years,  from  the  autumn  of  1837  to  the  summer  of  1842. 
He  had  no  further  schooling  of  any  kind,  except  some  German 
lessons  taken  at  home,  and  his  instruction  for  the  pictorial 
profession.  When  he  left  school,  he  wrote  an  excellent  hand  ; 
knew  Latin  reasonably  well,  up  to  Sallust,  Ovid,  Virgil,  etc. ; 
had  the  beginning  of  a  knowledge  of  Greek,  but  I  can  hardly 


72  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

say  whether,  after  a  few  years'  interval,  he  could  even  read 
the  Greek  characters  with  any  readiness  ;  understood  French 
well — well  enough  to  begin  forthwith,  which  he  did,  reading 
any  number  of  French  novels  for  himself;  and  had  some 
inkling  on  subjects  of  history,  geography,  etc.  He  always 
saw  easily  into  linguistic  and  grammatical  matters,  so  far  as 
he  cared  to  pursue  them.  He  had  also  been  brought  on  a 
little  in  drawing,  of  a  more  or  less  sketchy  kind.  In  the 
classes  generally  (but  not  in  the  drawing-class)  the  boys  had 
to  be  seated  in  the  order  of  their  proficiency,  one  of  them 
"  taking  the  place  "  of  another  as  occasion  arose  ;  and  Dante 
was  usually  pretty  near  the  head  of  a  class.  Of  anything 
even  distantly  tending  to  science — algebra,  geometry,  etc. — 
he  learned  nothing  whatever.  The  religious  instruction  at 
King's  College  School  counted  for  little  :  there  were  some 
prayers  and  a  chapter  of  the  Bible  in  the  morning.  But  all 
this  time  he  continued  going  to  church  en  famille,  without 
much  liking  or  any  serious  distaste.  In  early  childhood  came 
Trinity  Church,  Marylebone  Road ;  then  St.  Katharine's, 
Regent's  Park  ;  then  Christ  Church,  Albany  Street. 

I  will  run  over  a  few  other  particulars — I  hope,  with  due 
brevity.  The  Upper  First  Class  was  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Cockayne,  who  became — or  possibly  then  was — a  good 
scholar  in  Early  English.  The  Second,  by  the  Rev.  Swinburne 
Carr,  author  of  a  serviceable  History  of  Greece.  The  Third, 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hodgson,  an  ungainly  little  man  whom  the 
boys  did  not  like.  I  cannot  say  that  Dante  or  myself  had 
any  reason  to  complain  of  him.  There  was  a  legend  that  he 
knew  very  little  about  the  matters  on  which  he  instructed 
the  boys,  and  that  he  had  to  prepare  his  own  lessons  over- 
night. As  to  this  I  of  course  know  nothing.  In  the  Fourth 
Class,  the  last  which  Dante  Gabriel  entered,  the  Master  was 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Fearnley.  Of  him  also  a  legend  was  current, 
purporting  to  account  for  a  seam  visible  in  his  throat.  It 
was  really,  I  presume,  a  seam  of  a  scrofulous  nature  ;  but  the 
legend  ran  that  he  had  once  cut  his  throat  with  suicidal  inten- 
tion, and  had  only  been  saved  at  the  last  gasp.     Mr.  Fearnley, 


SCHOOL.  73 

a  large  stalwart  man,  was  considered  severe,  and  the  boys 
were  not  very  fond  of  being  promoted  into  his  class — which 
may  be  a  reason  why  some  one  concocted  the  legend.  Each 
of  these  classes  numbered  some  thirty  boys,  more  or  less  ; 
perhaps  one  or  two  of  them  attained  to  forty. 

There  were  also  the  Writing  and  Arithmetic  Masters,  the 
French  Masters,  and  the  Drawing  Masters.  Mr.  Allsop,  the 
Head  Writing  Master,  was  a  great  adept  in  his  craft,  and 
would  at  times  come  round  to  one  class  or  another  displaying 
a  chef  cTceuvre  of  caligraphy,  full  of  the  most  astonishing 
flourishes.  He  was  odd,  and  left  the  school  not  long  after  we 
entered  it ;  and  I  fear  that  the  story  I  was  told,  that  he  had 
gone  out  of  his  mind,  was  a  true  one.  His  successor  was  a 
small  old  man,  Mr.  Hutton,  of  venerable  grandfatherly  aspect, 
with  white  hair.  He  was  easily  put  out,  and  some  of  the  boys, 
being  as  pitiless  as  other  boys,  put  him  out  when  they  could. 
Dante  held  aloof  from  this  indignity.  The  French  Masters 
were  Mm.  Gassion  and  Wattez,  and  Professor  Brasseur,  all 
very  competent  men  ;  the  first  two  considerate  to  their  pupils, 
and  the  third,  who  could  be  sarcastic  as  well  as  considerate, 
a  scholar  of  some  rank.  He  was  afterwards  French  Preceptor 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  died  at  a  recent  date,  aged,  I 
think,  about  ninety.  The  Drawing  Master  was  the  most 
interesting  personage  of  all — the  celebrated  member  of  the 
Norwich  School  of  Painting,  John  Sell  Cotman.  He  was 
aged  fifty-five  when  Dante  Rossetti  entered  King's  College 
School — an  alert,  forceful-looking  man,  of  moderate  stature, 
with  a  fine  well-moulded  face,  which  testified  to  an  impulsive 
nature  somewhat  worn  and  wearied.  He  seemed  sparing  of 
speech,  but  high-strung  in  whatever  he  said.  In  fact,  the 
seeds  of  madness  lurked  in  this  distinguished  artist,  although, 
apart  from  a  rather  excitable  or  abrupt  manner  in  ruling  his 
bear-garden,  I  never  noticed  any  symptoms  of  it.  Pretty  soon 
he  left  the  school,  and,  just  as  Dante  also  was  leaving  it,  in 
July  1842,  he  died  insane.  Mr.  Cotman's  course  of  instruc- 
tion did  not  extend  far  beyond  giving  us  pencil-sketches, 
often    of  his    own,    to    copy — fisher-folk,    troopers,    peasants, 


74  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

boating,  etc.  Dante's  copies  were,  I  suppose,  considered  to 
count  among  the  more  satisfactory,  but  I  am  not  aware  that 
Cotman  ever  fixed  particular  attention  upon  him.  As 
Drawing  Master  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Miles  Edward 
Cotman.  The  latter  died  in  1858,  aged  only  forty-seven  ;  and 
I  fancy  that  he  also,  though  perfectly  quiet  and  collected  in 
manner,  was  a  little  peculiar. 

In  Mr.  Hall  Caine's  book — Recollections  of  Dante  Gabriel 
Rossetti,  1882 — there  is  a  passage  which  deserves  quotation 
here : — 

"  He  is  described,  by  those  who  remember  him  at  this  period,  as 
a  boy  of  a  gentle  and  affectionate  nature,  albeit  prone  to  outbursts  of 
masterfulness.  It  is  said  that  he  was  brave  and  manly  of  tempera- 
ment, courageous  as  to  personal  suffering,  eminently  solicitous  of  the 
welfare  of  others,  and  kind  and  considerate  to  such  as  he  had  claims 
upon.  This  is  no  doubt  true  portraiture  ;  but  it  must  be  stated 
(however  open  to  explanation,  on  grounds  of  laudable  self-depre- 
ciation) that  it  is  not  the  picture  which  he  himself  used  to  paint 
of  his  character  as  a  boy.  He  often  described  himself  as  being 
destitute  of  personal  courage  when  at  school,  as  shrinking  from  the 
amusements  of  school-fellows,  and  fearful  of  their  quarrels — not 
wholly  without  generous  impulses,  but  in  the  main  selfish  of  nature, 
and  reclusive  in  habit  of  life.  He  would  have  had  you  believe  that 
school  was  to  him  a  place  of  semi-purgatorial  probation." 

All  this  is  put  in  a  very  fair  spirit  by  Mr.  Caine,  and  it 
merits  a  little  reflection.  No  one  now  alive  perhaps,  except 
myself,  could,  with  any  clear  knowledge  and  recollection,  say 
whether  Dante  Rossetti  was  "  destitute  of  personal  courage 
when  at  school."  I  do  not  consider  that  he  was  by  any  means 
thus  destitute.  I  have  seen  him  fight  with  a  proper  degree 
of  tenacity  when  the  occasion  arose ;  but  it  is  strictly  true 
that  he  was  "  fearful  of  the  quarrels  "  of  schoolfellows,  in  the 
sense  that  he  totally  disliked  that  loutish  horse-play  and  that 
scrambling  pugnacity  which  are  so  eminently  distinctive  of 
the  British  stripling.  The  meaningless  defiance,  the  bullying 
onset,  and  the  mauling  scuffle,  looked  to  him  ugly,  base, 
detestable,  and  semi-human.     If  he  was  mistaken,  I  should 


SCHOOL.  75 

like  to  know  wherein.  The  bull-dog  propensity  to  pin  some- 
body by  the  muzzle,  whether  deserving  to  be  so  pinned  or 
not,  was  not  any  part  of  his  character,  inborn  or  acquired. 
Neither  had  he  any  liking  for  being  set  up  by  his  school- 
fellows, without  quarrel  of  his  own,  to  fight  a  boy  two  or 
three  inches  taller  than  himself,  and  with  half  as  much  again 
in  thews  and  sinews.  That  he  was  "  in  the  main  selfish  of 
nature  "  is  true  when  the  statement  is  properly  understood, 
but  it  might  easily  be  misconstrued.  He  was  selfish,  in  the 
sense  of  self-centred.  His  own  aims,  his  own  opportunities, 
the  working-out  of  such  faculty  as  he  found  within  himself 
— these  were  always  his  chief  concern.  To  term  him  "  self- 
willed  " — which  he  most  eminently  was  from  first  to  last- — 
would  give  a  much  more  correct  idea  than  to  term  him 
"  selfish."  He  was  not  selfish  in  the  sense  of  being  dull  in 
affection  to  others,  indifferent  to  their  welfare,  or  unwilling 
to  exert  himself  to  do  them  a  benefit.  He  had  a  theory, 
which  I  have  heard  him  express  at  various  periods  of  life, 
that  men  who  have  an  originating  gift — or,  in  a  broad  sense, 
what  we  call  men  of  genius — are  all  selfish  in  that  same  mood 
of  being  self-centred.  He  would  say  it  of  such  poets  as 
Dante,  Milton,  Gothe,  Wordsworth,  Shelley,  or  of  Shake- 
spear  if  the  facts  of  his  life  were  adequately  known — of  such 
painters  and  sculptors  as  Titian,  Cellini,  Rembrandt,  Blake, 
and  Turner.  And  here  again  I  apprehend  that  he  was  remote 
from  being  wrong.  That  "  school  was  to  him  a  place  of 
semi-purgatorial  probation"  is,  I  dare  say,  nearly  true.  It  is 
a  fact  however  that,  if  in  reality  he  felt  this  at  the  time 
deeply,  be  passed  it  off  lightly ;  for  to  me,  who  was  his 
daily  colleague  and  confidant,  he  never,  so  far  as  I  can 
remember,  unbosomed  himself  to  any  such  effect.  That 
contact  with  school-life  did  the  reverse  of  good  to  the 
character  of  the  boyish  Rossetti  is  what  I  have  already 
avowed.  His  regard  for  veracity,  the  strictness  of  his  sense 
of  honour,  his  readiness  to  brave  inconvenience  for  principle, 
were  subject  to  daily  undermining  ;  for  the  moral  atmosphere 
around  reeked  too  perceptibly  of  unveracity,  slipperiness,  and 


j6  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

shirking.  His  temper  too,  which  was  always  an  arbitrary  and 
peremptory  one,  did  not  improve  ;  but  he  retained  unimpaired 
two  valuable  qualities — an  easy  good-nature,  and  a  facility  at 
forgiving  and  forgetting.  From  infancy  onwards  he  was 
always  a  great  favourite  with  servants,  shoe-blacking  men, 
organ-grinders,  and  people  of  the  like  class.  Brightness  of 
parts  and  brightness  of  manner  ensured  this. 

I  have  not  yet  referred  to  the  statement  reported  by 
Mr.  Caine  about  "  shrinking  from  the  amusements  of 
schoolfellows."  This  is  entirely  true,  if  "  shrinking  "  means 
"  abstaining."  He  cared  nothing  for  rough  pastimes — though 
he  would  race  about  in  the  scanty  playground  with  others, 
bear  a  hand  in  snowballing,  and  so  on  ;  but  anything  which 
would  derive  from  personal  liking,  and  would  require  time, 
pains,  and  practice — such  as  skating,  fishing,  or  cricket — he 
left  entirely  aside.  He  did  not  want  it  ;  therefore  he  did  not 
pursue  it.  To  learn  swimming,  boating,  and  riding,  would, 
no  doubt,  at  school  and  after  school,  have  been  a  benefit  to 
him — a  benefit  which  the  habits  and  circumstances  of  the 
family  and  his  own  indifference  withheld. 

I  was  interested  lately  at  finding,  in  a  little  Memorial 
Volume  on  Edgar  Allan  Poe,  a  poet  of  my  brother's  marked 
predilection,  an  account  of  that  singular  genius  as  a  schoolboy 
which  might  almost  have  been  penned  for  Dante  Rossetti. 
The  volume  was  published  at  Baltimore  in  1877,  and  cannot 
be  widely  known  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  writer 
of  the  passage  is  Poe's  schoolfellow  at  Richmond,  Virginia, 
Colonel  J.  T.  L.  Preston.     He  says  : — 

"  Poe,  as  I  recall  my  impressions  now,  was  self-willed,  capricious, 
inclined  to  be  imperious,  and,  though  of  generous  impulses,  not 
steadily  kind  or  even  amiable." 

For  Rossetti,  the  last  clause  should  rather  run — "  not 
definitely  amiable,  nor  even  always  steadily  kind." 

The  punishments  in  King's  College  School  were  of  a  mild 
character.  There  was  no  flogging.  Now  and  again  an 
irritated  master  would  cuff  a  boy,  or  give  him  a  bang  on  the 


school.  77 

head  with  a  book.  This  was  an  extempore,  and  I  suppose  an 
unsanctioned,  performance.  An  offender  was  made  to  stand 
out  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  or  to  stand  upon  a  form  for 
a  while  ;  or  he  was  "  kept  in  "  during  playtime  ;  or  he  had  to 
do  an  "  imposition,"  such  as  copying  out  the  same  line  from 
Virgil  fifty  times  over.  An  ingenious  boy  would  brace 
together  two  or  three  pens  at  a  proper  gradient,  and  thus 
write  two  or  three  lines  with  one  turn  of  the  hand. 

There  was  no  schoolfellow  with  whom  Dante  Rossetti 
contracted  an  intimate  acquaintance,  far  less  a  life-long  friend- 
ship ;  but  two  or  three  were  in  our  house  at  times,  or  we  in 
theirs.  One  of  these  was  young  Lockhart,  a  grandson  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  aged  about  thirteen  when  Dante  was  nine  ; 
a  handsome,  slim,  straight-built  youth,  with  very  correct 
features.  He  was  a  great  hand  at  cutting  out  little  models  of 
boats.  He  became  the  Lieutenant  Walter  Scott  Lockhart- 
Scott,  owner  of  Abbotsford,  and  died  in  1853,  aged  only 
twenty-seven.  Another  boy  was  a  son  of  William  Westall 
the  Landscape-painter  (brother  of  the  Richard  Westall  so 
well-known  to  Dante  Rossetti  through  Martin  and  WestalPs 
Illustrations  of  the  Bible,  a  painter  of  some  note  in  his  day, 
who  gave  instructions  to  the  Princess  Victoria).  This  boy  had 
a  brother  of  weak  mind  and  sometimes  rather  dangerous  (not 
in  King's  College  School),  who  went  by  the  undignified  name 
of  "  Sillikin."  Another  boy  was  Geldart  Evans  Riadore,  who 
became  a  clergyman,  and  (I  believe)  Domestic  Chaplain  to 
the  Duke  of  Buccleuch,  a  lad  of  good  parts  and  refinement, 
son  of  a  Doctor.  Also  the  Wrays,  sons  of  a  deceased  Colonial 
Judge ;  Boys,  son  of  a  leading  printseller ;  Capper,  whose 
father  was  a  coal-merchant ;  Charles  Anderson,  who  became 
a  clergyman,  doing  good  service  in  the  East  End  of  London  ; 
and  the  Willoughbys,  sons  of  a  legal  gentleman  living  in 
Lancaster  Place,  close  to  King's  College.  Their  family  had 
the  entree  to  the  Terrace  of  Somerset  House  overlooking  the 
river ;  and  we  would  sometimes  join  them  on  a  half-holiday 
or  holiday,  taking  possession  of  a  little  lodge  there,  burning 
shavings  in  an  empty  grate,  and  making  an  amount  of  noise 


78  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

which  was  not  kindly  taken  by  the  Government  Clerks  whose 
windows  opened  on  to  the  Terrace.  These  several  boys  are 
about  all  I  could  specify.  I  make  no  mention  of  a  very  few 
others  who  were  little  or  not  at  all  known  to  my  brother  in 
his  schooldays,  but  only  to  myself  while  my  schooling  was 
prolonged  beyond  his. 

Dante  Rossetti  had  a  certain  faint  repute  among  his  class- 
fellows  as  being  addicted  to  drawing  or  sketching — making, 
on  an  exercise-book  or  the  margin  of  a  school-book,  some- 
thing that  was  understood  to  figure  a  knight,  cavalier,  trooper, 
brigand,  or  what  not — or  as  buying  and  colouring  theatrical 
characters,  illustrated  serials,  and  the  like.  To  this  small 
extent,  therefore,  he  was  noted  as  a  little  uncommon  ;  and  of 
course  his  foreign  name  and  comparatively  unschoolboy-like 
habits  counted  for  something.  I  suppose  also — though  I  do 
not  recollect  precise  instances  in  point — that  he  was  known  for 
reciting  verses.  A  certain  schoolfellow,  probably  after  Dante 
had  left,  handed  over  to  me  three  or  four  poetical  compositions 
which  he  himself  had  produced,  one  of  them  beginning  with 
the  words,  "  I  would  I  were  a  smiling  bird."  Dante  laughed  over 
the  term,  and  made  a  portrait  of  the  bird  in  the  act  of  smiling. 

The  year  1842,  when  he  quitted  school,  was  the  year  of 
the  Anglo-Chinese  Opium  War.  He  and  I  were  told  by 
a  Master  to  make  an  original  composition  on  the  subject  of 
China,  and  I  think  the  composition  had  to  be  in  verse.  What 
he  or  I  wrote  I  have  totally  forgotten  :  seemingly  each  of  us 
must  have  produced  some  lines.  Christina  saw  us  at  work, 
and  chose  to  enter  the  poetic  lists.  She  was  then  eleven  years 
of  age.  She  indited  the  following  epical  lines,  which  must 
(I  apprehend)  have  been  nearly  the  first  verses  she  ever 
wrote.1     Will  the  reader  pardon  my  printing  them  ? 

1  There  was  a  neat  couplet  which  may  have  been  earlier : — - 

" '  Come  cheer  up,   my  lads,  'tis  to  glory  we  steer  ! ' 
As  the  soldier  remarked  whose  post  lay  in  the  rear." 

Two  stanzas,  dated  27  April  1842,  for  our  mother's  birthday  (our  grand- 
father printed  them  on  a  card)  were,  I  consider,  earlier  also.  The  original 
MS. — of  a  very  childish  aspect — is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 


HOME-LIFE   DURING   SCHOOL — SIR   HUGH   THE   HERON.     79 

THE   CHINAMAN. 

"  '  Centre  of  Earth  !  '  a  Chinaman  he  said, 
And  bent  over  a  map  his  pig-tailed  head, — ■ 
That  map  in  which,  portrayed  in  colours  bright, 
China,  all  dazzling,  burst  upon  the  sight : 
'  Centre  of  Earth  ! '  repeatedly  he  cries, 
'  Land  of  the  brave,  the  beautiful,  the  wise !  ' 
Thus  he  exclaimed  ;  when  lo  his  words  arrested 
Showed  what  sharp  agony  his  head  had  tested. 
He  feels  a  tug — another,  and  another — 
And  quick  exclaims,   '  Hallo  !  what's  now  the  bother  ? ' 
But  soon  alas  perceives.     And,  '  Why,  false  night, 
Why  not  from  men  shut  out  the  hateful  sight  ? 
The  faithless  English  have  cut  off  my  tail, 
And  left  me  my  sad  fortunes  to  bewail. 
Now  in  the  streets  I  can  no  more  appear, 
For  all  the  other  men  a  pig-tail  wear.' 
He  said,  and  furious  cast  into  the  fire 
His  tail :  those  flames  became  its  funeral-pyre." 


VIII. 
HOME-LIFE    DURING    SCHOOL— SIR   HUGH  THE  HERON. 

I  HAVE  already  said  that  Dante  Rossetti  (as  well  as  the  rest 
of  us)  used  in  early  childhood  to  get  some  countrifying  at 
our  grandfather's  house,  Holmer  Green  in  Buckinghamshire. 
There  he  loitered  about  a  little,  doing  nothing  particular.  His 
chief  amusement  was  to  haunt  a  pond  in  the  grounds,  and 
catch  frogs.  It  concerned  him  to  notice  that,  if  he  held  a 
frog  any  considerable  while  in  his  hand,  the  skin  of  the 
amphibian's  throat,  lacking  its  proper  quota  of  moisture, 
would  split  across.  This  did  not  cure  him  of  catching  frogs  ; 
but  he  was  fain  to  hope  that  his  captive,  on  being  restored 
to  its  pond,  would  find  its  throat  "sewing  itself  up  again." 
All  his  life  he  liked  most  animals  (though  he  had  little  ado 
with  dogs,  and  none  with  horses),  and  was  not  ill-natured 
to  any.  Even  a  black  beetle  was  regarded  with  a  certain 
indulgence  ;  it  was  an  animal,  much  like  another. 


So  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

These  little  and  never  frequent  country  excursions  came 
to  an  end  in  1839,  when  our  grandfather  resettled  in  London  ; 
and  then  Dante  Rossetti,  for  two  or  three  years,  went  out 
of  London  not  at  all,  for  our  father  had  not  the  habit  of 
making  any  annual  seaside  or  rural  trip.  Dante's  holidays, 
when  school  closed,  were  "spent  at  home  in  London,  varied 
by  casual  walks  up  to  Hampstead,  or  the  like.  He  painted 
theatrical  characters,  read  books,  and  amused  himself  as  the 
chance  offered  ;  and  now  he  had  at  least  the  resource  of  going 
to  his  grandfather's  house  near  Regent's  Park  whenever  he 
felt  so  inclined.  The  house  contained  many  books.  It  had, 
at  the  back,  a  moderate-sized  garden,  sloping  down  towards 
Regent's  Canal ;  and  in  this  garden  a  shed  or  summer-house 
sheltered  the  private  printing-press  which  Polidori  used. 
The  fact — such  I  believe  it  to  be — that  Dante  never  once 
tried  what  he  could  do  as  a  compositor  is  one  more  symptom 
of  his  great  inaptitude  at  anything  of  a  mechanical  or  directly 
practical  kind.     The  workaday  world  was  not  his  world. 

In  this  house  occurred  a  small  incident  which  Mr.  Caine 
has  related — not  with  perfect  accuracy.  It  did  not  take  place 
when  Dante  was  "  rather  less  than  nine  years  of  age,"  for  he 
was  already  eleven  when  our  grandfather  entered  the  house. 
The  incident  may  really  belong  to  his  twelfth,  or  possibly 
his  thirteenth,  year.  He  did  not  deliberately  set-to  at  reciting 
the  closing  scene  of  Othello  ;  but,  taking  up  a  chisel,  he  play- 
fully motioned  to  strike  Christina  with  it.  As  Maria  had 
sense  enough  to  object  that  it  might  hurt,  he  insisted  that 
it  would  not ;  and  (then  for  the  first  time  speaking  a  few 
lines  from  Othello,  ending — 

"  I  took  by  the  throat  the  circumcised  dog, 
And  smote  him  thus") 

he  struck  the  chisel   forcibly  against  his   chest.     Naturally 
there  was  an  incision,  but  not  a  serious  one.     Sangiovanni 
probed  it,  and  pretty  soon  it  was  healed.     The  small  matter 
is  hardly  worth  adverting  to,  but  may  as  well  be  set  right. 
Another  small  matter,  a  little  more  symptomatic  as  to  the 


HOME-LIFE   DURING   SCHOOL — SIR   HUGH   THE   HERON.     8 1 

boyhood  of  Rossetti,  is  the  following.  Maria  was,  as  pre- 
viously intimated,  of  an  uncommonly  enthusiastic  temper, 
which  eventually  settled  down  into  religious  devotion.  As 
she  read  very  early  and  very  constantly,  her  enthusiasms 
developed  in  divers  directions  :  British  tars,  Napoleon,  English- 
men versus  Scotchmen  (in  relation  to  Walter  Scott's  writings), 
Grecian  mythology,  and  the  Iliad.  Pope's  translation  alone 
was  known  to  her.  When  Dante  and  I  began  learning  Greek 
she  resolved  to  learn  some  too,  partly  to  help  us  in  our 
lessons  ;  and  she  made  her  way  into  the  Greek  New  Testa- 
ment, and  could  in  her  later  years  still  read  it  fairly  with  the 
aid  of  a  dictionary.  While  the  Iliad  fit  was  at  its  height, 
Dante,  to  please  her,  undertook  to  do  a  series  of  pen-and-ink 
designs  for  the  epic,  on  a  small  scale,  one  design  to  each 
Book.  This  was  in  February  1 840,  when  he  was  eleven  years 
of  age.  These  drawings— they  still  exist — are  not  in  any 
tolerable  degree  good,  nor  even  distinctly  promising ;  but 
they  may  count  for  something  as  showing  the  lad's  ambitious 
temper  in  design,  and  his  willingness  to  take  up  any  attempt 
that  offered,  however  ludicrously  inadequate  his  means  for 
coping  with  it.  I  may  add  that  Dante  at  this  time,  although 
he  had  not  that  glowing  love  of  the  Iliad  which  his  sister 
entertained,  liked  it  highly,  and  read  it  much.  In  later  years 
he  knew,  and  he  also  preferred,  the  Odyssey. 

From  the  Iliad  I  pass  to  other  books  read  by  Dante  in 
his  school-days,  as  a  sequel  to  the  details  previously  given 
relating  to  a  still  earlier  period.  The  poet  who  superseded 
Walter  Scott  as  prime  favourite  (always  allowing  for  Shake- 
spear,  who  was  never  superseded  though  he  may  have  been 
less  constantly  read)  was  Byron.  The  Siege  of  Corinth  came 
first  in  the  boy's  esteem,  and  next  Mazeppa  and  Manfred, 
with  The  Corsair  and  others  to  follow.  Childe  Harold  he 
read,  but  without  special  zest ;  in  fact,  throughout  his  life, 
the  poetry  of  sentimental  or  reflective  description  had  a  very 
minor  attraction  for  him.  Of  Dickens's  Pickwick,  which  came 
out  in  1836,  he  seems  to  me  to  have  known  comparatively 
little  ;   but  Nicholas  Nickleby,  1838-9,  was  very  potent  with 

VOL.  I.  6 


82  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

him,  followed  by  Oliver  Twist,  The  Old  Qiriosity  Shop, 
Barnaby  Rudge,  etc.  An  illustrated  serial  named  Tales  of 
Chivalry  (but  chivalry  is  not  more  prominent  in  its  pages  than 
some  other  things)  was  constantly  read,  and  its  woodcuts 
inspected  and  coloured  ;  also  another  serial,  of  earlier  date, 
called  Legends  of  Terror,  full  of  ghosts,  fiends,  and  magic, 
in  prose  and  verse.  There  was  likewise  The  Seven  Champions 
of  Christendom,  abounding  in  dragons,  enchanters,  and  other 
marvels  of  pseudo-chivalry.  Hone's  Every -day  Book,  with  its 
amusing  woodcuts,  and  the  Newgate  Calendar,  were  marked 
favourites.  The  mere  thieves  in  the  last-named  repertory 
excited  but  a  languid  interest,  but  the  murderers,  and  their 
"  last  dying  speeches  and  confessions,"  were  conned  with 
decided  gusto.  Of  highly-reputed  romances  there  were 
Bulwer's  Rienzi  and  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  and,  of  minor 
romances,  three  serials — Robin  Hood  and  Wat  Tyler,  both 
by  Pierce  Egan  the  younger,  and  Ada  the  Betrayed,  or  The 
Murder  at  the  Old  Smithy,  by  some  obscure  author  whose 
name  did  not  transpire.  Gil  Bias  and  Don  Quixote  were 
enjoyed,  though  not  in  any  extreme  degree.  But  perhaps 
in  his  earlier  school-days — or  from  the  age  of  nine  to  eleven — 
nothing  delighted  Dante  quite  so  much  as  a  small-sized 
series  entitled  Brigand  Tales,  with  coloured  illustrations. 
A  subsequent  series  appeared,  which  he  relished  somewhat 
less,  whether  because  he  was  growing  out  of  them,  or  on 
account  of  their  being  more  forced  and  worked  up  in  incident 
The  opening  series  comprised  Moriano  the  Outlaw,  or  the 
Bandit  of  the  Charmed  Wrist ;  Beauty  and  the  Bear,  or  The 
Bandits  Stratagem ;  The  Female  Brigand,  or  The  Lover's 
Doom;  and  a  number  of  others  :  with  such  illustrations  as 
Desperate  Encoitnter  between  Benedetto  the  Brigand  and 
Jeronymo  Arondini ;  Guillen  Martino plundering  the  Monks  of 
the  Abbey  of  San  Lsidor  ;  Pietro  d'Armorelli,  Captain  of  Ban- 
ditti, refusing  to  stay  the  Execution  of  his  own  Son,  etc.,  etc. 
This  publication  was  followed  by  Dramatic  Tales,  a  set  of 
narratives  from  popular  plays,  contemporary  or  antecedent. 
These  also  were  highly  appreciated  by  Dante  Rossetti.     By 


HOME-LIFE   DURING   SCHOOL— SIR   HUGH   THE   HERON.     83 

the  time  he  left  school — turned  of  fourteen — he  had  devoured 
numerous  novels,  poems,  and  dramas,  apart  from  those  here 
specified,  almost  all  of.  them  being  in  English.  In  Italian 
there  was  little  beyond  Ariosto  ;  in  French,  it  may  be  that 
Hugo's  Notre  Dame  de  Paris  preceded  the  close  of  his 
schooling,  but  I  am  not  sure.  At  any  rate  this,  and  many 
other  works  of  Hugo,  both  prose  and  verse,  fascinated  him 
hugely  very  soon  afterwards  ;  and  French  novels  by  a 
variety  of  authors  were  greatly  in  the  ascendant  for  two  or 
three  years.  It  may  be  feared  there  was  no  solid  reading 
— whether  history,  biography,  or  anything  else — irrespectively 
of  the  few  and  fragmentary  things  that  he  had  to  get  up 
as  a  part  of  the  school  course.  His  intellectual  life  was 
nurtured  upon  fancy  and  sympathy,  not  upon  knowledge  or 
information. 

Dante  Rossetti  did  not  write  much  in  boyhood,  but  he 
wrote  something.  I  question  whether  The  Slave  and  Aladdin 
had  any  successor  until  in  1840  a  grand  scheme  was  started 
that  every  one  of  us  four  should  write  a  romantic  tale.  I 
suppose  each  made  a  beginning,  but  I  cannot  affirm  that  any 
one  of  the  quartette  made  an  ending,  unless  it  was  Dante. 
His  tale  alone  has  been  preserved,  and  it  is  so  far  completed 
as  to  bring  a  single  set  of  incidents  to  a  climax,  without 
implying  that  anything  else  remains  to  be  added.  The  tale 
is  named  Roderick  and  Rosalba,  a  Story  of  the  Round  Table. 
Its  first  chapter  is  headed,  The  Knight,  the  Messenger,  the 
Departure,  the  Hostelry,  the  Quarrel ;  and  it  begins  with  the 
following  sentence : — 

"  It  was  a  dark  and  stormy  night  in  the  month  of  December  when 
a  figure,  closely  wrapped  in  the  sable  folds  of  his  cloak,  and  mounted 
on  a  jaded  steed,  was  seen  hurrying  across  a  bleak  common  towards 
a  stately  castle  in  the  distance,  whose  lofty  towers  and  time-worn 
battlements  frowned  over  the  wide  expanse  beneath." 

This  may  suffice  ;  with  the  bare  addition  that  the  tale  nar- 
rates how  a  lady  was  captured  by  a  "  marauder  "  who  wanted 
to  wed  her  perforce,  and  how  she  was  rescued  by  her  affianced 


84  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

knight.  At  some  later  date — it  was  1843,  or  possibly  just 
afterwards — Dante  took  up  his  old  MS.,  and  evidently  regarded 
it  as  much  behind  the  time.  He  altered  its  title  to  The  Free 
Companions,  a  Tale  of  the  Days  o'f  King  Stephen,  cut  it 
down  freely,  revised  the  phraseology  of  several  remaining 
passages,  and  added  a  concluding  sentence. 

Rossetti's  first  printed  "  poem,"  Sir  Hugh  the  Heron,  a 
Legendary  Tale  in  Four  Parts,  seems  to  have  been  begun  and 
nearly  completed  much  about  the  same  time  as  Roderick  and 
Rosalba,  or  not  later  than  May  1841.  It  is  founded  on  a 
prose  story  by  Allan  Cunningham,  which  Rossetti  had  read 
in  the  Legends  of  Terror,  and  I  think  elsewhere  as  well. 
His  zest  in  writing  this  ballad-poem  waned,  and  he  laid  it 
aside  :  but  later  on  his  grandfather  Polidori  told  him  that,  if 
he  would  finish  it,  the  luxury  of  print  should  be  his  at  the 
private  printing-press.  So  it  was  wound  up,  and  printed 
in  1843,  when  Dante  was  either  fourteen  or  fifteen  years 
of  age.  The  title-page  is  marked  "  for  private  circulation 
only " ;  and  even  private  circulation  was  more  than  com- 
mensurate, to  the  merit  of  Sir  Hugh  the  Heron.  The  story 
is  substantially  that  of  a  knight  who  quits  England  for  a 
foreign  war,  leaving  his  betrothed  to  the  care  of  his  cousin. 
While  abroad,  he  discovers,  by  a  vision  in  a  magic  mirror, 
that  the  cousin  has  betrayed  his  trust,  and  is  offering  violence 
to  the  lady.  The  knight  hastens  home,  slays  the  aggressor, 
and  recovers  his  bride.  The  ballad  is  versified  with  ease  and 
correctness,  in  three  or  four  different  metres,  and  is  not  wholly 
destitute  of  spirit  in  its  boyish  way ;  but  the  way  is  boyish 
in  the  fullest  sense,  and  the  poem  cannot  be  said  to  show 
any  express  faculty  or  superior  promise.  Rossetti,  when 
he  grew  up,  hated  to  hear  this  puerile  attempt  alluded  to. 
I  used  to  have  a  large  remainder-stock  of  Sir  Hugh  the 
Heron  ;  but  at  his  particular  request,  somewhere  towards  1875, 
I  rather  reluctantly  destroyed  the  whole  impression,  with 
the  exception  of  a  very  few  copies,  and  the  ballad  exists 
only  for  a  dozen  or  so  of  curious  collectors  here  and  there,  and 
for  readers  in  the  British  Museum  Library.     My  brother  left 


HOME-LIFE   DURING  SCHOOL— SIR  HUGH   THE   HERON.     85 

behind  him  a  little  memorandum  (the  handwriting  indicates  a 
date  towards  1881),  which  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  I  make  this  note  after  a  conversation  with  a  friend  who  had 
been  reading  in  the  British  Museum  a  ridiculous  first  attempt 
of  mine  in  verse,  called  Sir  Hugh  the  Heron,  which  was  printed 
when  I  was  fourteen,  but  written  (except  the  last  page  or  two)  at 
twelve — as  my  family  would  probably  remember.  When  I  was 
fourteen  my  grandfather  (who  amused  himself  by  having  a  small 
private  printing-press)  offered,  if  I  would  finish  it,  to  print  it.  I 
accordingly  added  the  last  precious  touches  two  years  after  writing 
the  rest.  I  leave  this  important  explanation,  as  there  is  no  knowing 
what  fool  may  some  day  foist  the  absurd  trash  into  print  as  a 
production  of  mine.  It  is  curious  and  surprising  to  myself,  as 
evincing  absolutely  no  promise  at  all — less  than  should  exist  even 
at  twelve.  When  I  wrote  it,  the  only  English  poet  I  had  read 
was  Sir  W.  Scott,  as  is  plain  enough  in  it." 

This  last  statement  is  not  wholly  correct.  There  had  been 
Shakespear,  and  I  am  sure,  before  my  brother  was  twelve, 
a  good  deal  of  Byron  as  well. 

I  have  by  me  a  MS.  of  an  effusion,  William  and  Marie, 
shorter  than  Sir  Hugh  the  Heron,  written  when  my  brother 
was  fifteen,  in  a  style  which  is  compounded  of  Walter  Scott 
and  the  old  Scottish  ballads  ;  it  may  also  present  some  trace 
of  Burger's  Lenore.  This  may  be  accounted  a  trifle  inferior 
even  to  the  performance  denounced  by  its  author  in  such 
vigorous  terms.  It  narrates  how  a  wicked  Knight  slew  a 
virtuous  one,  hurled  into  a  moat  the  virtuous  one's  lady-love, 
and  got  killed  by  an  avenging  flash  of  lightning.  This  my 
brother  offered  for  publication  to  the  Editor  of  some  magazine 
— I  fancy  Smallwood's  Magazine — along  with  an  outline 
design  to  illustrate  it.  The  outline,  not  so  greatly  amiss,  is 
adapted  from  a  group  in  one  of  Filippo  Pistrucci's  lithographs 
from  Roman  history,  the  Rape  of  the  Sabines.  The  Editor 
was  too  sensible  to  publish  either  poem  or  design.  It  will  be 
perceived  that  this  small  transaction  belongs  to  a  date  a  little 
later  than  that  when  Rossetti  left  school ;  but  it  is  mentioned 


86  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

here  so  as  to  close  my  references  to  these  very  early  efforts 
in  verse.  There  may  possibly  have  been  a  few  others,  but  I 
fail  to  recollect  any.  The  reader  may  have  noticed  that  the 
times  of  chivalry  always  furnished  his  boyish  inspiration  ; 
in  fact,  he  thought  of  little  else  about  this  date.  Neither  the 
antique  nor  the  modern  exercised  the  least  sway  over  his 
fancy. 

A  few  words  more  may  be  bestowed  upon  childish  draw- 
ings ;  I  mention  such  only  as  I  find  inscribed  with  a  distinct 
date.  Two  are  coloured  designs,  October  1836  (age  eight), 
from  Monk  Lewis's  thrilling  drama  of  The  Castle  Spectre. 
One  is  Percy  and  Motley,  the  other  Osmond  and  Kenrick,  each 
personage  being  in  full  face,  which  may  suggest  that  little 
Dante  hardly  knew  how  to  set  about  a  profile.  In  1838  he 
produced  a  scene  of  school-life  from  his  "  Lower  First  "  class. 
It  is  lettered  Bantam  battering  {i.e.,  pummelling  a  boy)  ; 
Lower  Division —  Upper  Division.  These  two  Divisions  of  the 
schoolboys  are  represented  as  indulging  in  a  free  fight.  The 
design  is  not  quite  so  bad  as  might  be  expected,  the  actions 
having  a  certain  degree  of  natural  spirit  and  diversity.  Then 
comes,  1840,  an  illustrated  title-page,  forming  a  neat  and 
rather  prettyish  decorative  combination,  for  the  four  juvenile 
stories  of  which  Roderick  and  Rosalba  was  one.  Anyhow  he 
got  a  great  deal  into  the  small  space  of  a  page  of  note-paper. 
There  are  four  circular  half-figures  of  armoured  knights,  and 
four  oblong  compositions  exhibiting  incidents  in  the  tales. 
The  four  knights  are  inscribed  thus  :  A  Romance  of  the  14th 
Century,  Sir  Aubrey  de  Metford;  Roderick  and  Rosalba,  Sir 
Roderick  de  Malvon  ;  Raimond  and  Matilda,  Sir  Raimond  de 
Meryl ;  Retribution,  Sir  Guy  de  Linton.  And  the  four  compo- 
sitions thus:  Sir  Aubrey  killing  Herman  Rudesheim ;  Sir 
Roderick  rescuing  Rosalba  de  Clare;  Sir  Raimond  conquering 
Sir  Richard;  Sir  Guy  finding  the  letter  of  AH.  Next  are 
three  small  designs,  1840,  from  the  Arabian  Nights — The 
Genius  about  to  kill  the  Princess  of  the  Lsle  of  Ebony,  and  two 
others.  Three  largeish  separate  figures  from  Bulwer's  Rienzi, 
May  to  July  1840,  come  next;  done  with  pen  and  ink  in  a 


HOME-LIFE  DURING  SCHOOL— SIR   HUGH   THE   HERON.    87 

painstaking  manner,  though  not  with  anything,  in  character 
or  costume,  above  the  types  which  Dante  derived  from  his 
beloved  theatrical  characters.  November  1840  witnessed  the 
production  of  Earl  Warenne  (dictating,  it  would  seem,  the 
signing  of  Magna  Charta).  This  is  a  companion-drawing  to 
the  Rienzi  trio,  but  perceptibly  better.  Last  we  find  a 
modern  subject  of  a  patriotic  turn,  taken,  I  assume,  from  a 
little  volume  of  naval  anecdotes  which  Maria  used  to  cherish. 
Its  theme  is  inscribed  as  follows  : — 

"  '  As  you  are  not  of  my  parish,'  said  a  gentleman  to  a  begging 
sailor,  '  I  cannot  think  of  relieving  you.'  'Sir,'  replied  the  tar  with 
an  air  of  heroism,  '  I  lost  my  leg  fighting  for  all  parishes.'" 

This  is  dated  August  1841,  and  certainly  shows  some 
increased  degree  of  facility  in  putting  a  couple  of  figures 
together  so  as  to  form  a  group  and  tell  a  story. 

It  must  have  been,  I  think,  just  before  Dante  Rossetti  left 
school  that  he  began  learning  German.  He  learned  it  well  up 
to  a  certain  point,  yet  not  so  as  to  read  freely ;  and  I  suppose 
that,  by  the  age  of  twenty-five  to  thirty,  he  may  have  for- 
gotten four-fifths  of  what  he  had  acquired.  One  day  Dr. 
Adolf  Heimann,  the  Professor  of  German  at  University 
College,  presented  himself  in  our  house,  saying  that  he 
wished  to  learn  Italian  from  our  father,  and  would  be  pre- 
pared in  recompense  to  teach  German  to  the  four  children. 
He  was  a  German-Jew,  an  excellent  little  man  of  considerable 
acquirements,  and  as  kind-hearted,  open,  genial  a  person  as 
any  one  could  wish  to  know.  The  arrangement  was  assented 
to  ;  and  Dante,  with  the  rest  of  us,  set  to  at  German,  learning 
the  grammar  and  pronunciation,  reading  the  Sagen  und 
Mdhrchen  (folk-stories),  some  easy  things  in  Schiller,  etc. 
For  several  years  after  this  date — or  up  to  1848  or  there- 
abouts— we  saw  more  of  the  Heimann  family  than  of  any 
other.  The  Doctor  married  towards  1843,  and  soon  there 
were  children  in  his  house. 


DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 


IX. 


STUDY  FOR    THE  PAINTING  PROFESSION— CARY'S  AND 

THE  R.A. 

DANTE  ROSSETTI  now — summer  of  1842— craved  to  launch 
into  the  definite  study  of  pictorial  art.  Of  ordinary  schooling 
he  supposed  himself  to  have  had  about  as  much  as  would 
serve  his  turn.  Our  father's  health  was  already  so  far  broken 
as  to  give  cause  for  serious  anxiety ;  he  therefore  concurred 
with  Dante  in  holding  that  the  sooner  artistic  studies  were 
undertaken  the  better.  My  brother  did  not  return  to  King's 
College  School  after  the  summer  vacation,  but  looked  out  for 
an  Academy  of  Art. 

Gabriele  Rossetti  had  known  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cary,  the  trans- 
lator of  Dante,  whose  son,  F.  S.  Cary,  a  painter  of  no  great 
mark,  kept  at  this  time  that  well-reputed  drawing  academy 
which  was  termed  "  Sass's,"  in  Bloomsbury  Street,  Bedford 
Square.  To  this  institution  my  brother  betook  himself — 
perhaps  as  soon  as  he  left  King's  College  School,  but  at  all 
events  not  long  afterwards.  Our  father's  acquaintance  in  the 
world  of  art  was  far  from  extensive.  He  knew  pretty  well 
Mr.  Eastlake,  afterwards  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  P.R.A.,  Mr. 
Severn  the  friend  of  Keats,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bartholomew 
the  flower-painters  ;  he  also  saw  once  or  twice  John  Martin, 
and  Mr.  Solomon  Hart,  R.A.,  but  this  latter  may  have  been 
at  a  date  rather  after  that  of  which  I  am  now  speaking. 
These  appear  to  have  been  all. 

Of  what  my  brother  did  at  Cary's,  and  whom  he  knew 
there,  I  can  give  but  a  meagre  account ;  his  Family-letters 
throw  a  little,  but  only  a  little,  light  on  the  subject.  He  and 
I  were  still  always  together  in  the  evening ;  but  in  the  day, 
while  he  was  at  the  drawing  academy,  I  continued  in  attend- 
ance at  King's  College  School,  up  to  February  1845,  and 
then  I  went  to  the  Excise  Office  in  Old  Broad  Street.  He 
drew  from  the  antique  and  the  skeleton,  with  immense  liking 
for  the  profession  of  art,  but  with  only  moderate  interest  in 


STUDY  FOR   THE   PAINTING   PROFESSION.  89 

these  preliminaries.  He  also  studied  anatomy  in  some  books, 
but  never,  I  think,  in  the  actual  subject,  human  or  animal. 
Of  his  class-fellows  we  saw  little.  I  can  vaguely  recollect 
Sintzenich,  a  youth  whose  sympathies  were  shared  between 
painting  and  music,  and  who  finally  took  to  the  latter.  There 
was  also  a  youth  named  Thomas  Doughty,  son  of  a  self- 
taught  American  Landscape-painter,  who  had  come  over  to 
London  in  quest  of  fortune,  which  did  not  smile  upon  him. 
I  cannot  say  with  certainty  that  the  younger  Doughty  was 
a  student  at  Cary's  rather  than  the  Royal  Academy,  but  I 
am  pretty  sure  that  so  he  was.  For  a  year  or  two  he  was 
my  brother's  chief  intimate.  I  have  not  unfrequently  accom- 
panied Dante  to  drink  tea  and  spend  the  evening  in  the 
house  of  the  Doughtys,  a  small  semi-villa  residence  close  to 
Gloucester  Gate,  Regent's  Park.  The  father  was  a  rather 
convivial  plain-spoken  man  ;  the  mother  a  pleasant  bright- 
mannered  little  lady,  who  had,  I  dare  say,  more  than  enough 
of  domestic  disquietude.  The  intimacy  with  young  Doughty 
may  have  begun  early  in  1846,  and,  lasting  through- 
out 1847,  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the  return  of  the 
family  to  America — presumably  before  the  middle  of  1848. 
We  saw  them  off  on  their  ship.  Thomas  Doughty  must 
have  been  two  years  or  more  older  than  my  brother,  and 
had  seen  a  good  deal  more  of  "  life."  I  recollect  he  introduced 
us  to  two  odd  characters.  One  was  a  semi-artistic  working 
shoemaker,  living  near  Westminster  Bridge.  The  other  was 
a  quick-witted  lively  young  American,  Charley  Ware,  leading 
a  harum-scarum  kind  of  life  in  lodgings  off  Leicester  Square. 
I  will  not  here  tread  rashly  into  his  domestic  penetralia. 
He  had  literary  likings,  much  concerned  with  Edgar  Poe, 
which  was  a  bond  of  sympathy  with  my  brother ;  and  he 
was  the  first  person  to  reveal  to  the  latter  the  glories  of 
Bailey's  Festus  (which  Dante  read  over  and  over  again  for 
a  while)  by  reciting  the  sublime  opening — 

"  Eternity  hath  snowed  its  years  upon  them  ; 
And  the  white  winter  of  their  age  is  come, 
The  world  and  all  its  worlds,  and   all  shall  end." 


90  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

Charley  Ware  had  some  hankerings  also  after  pictorial  art, 
without  any  training.  He  produced  a  little  oil-picture  of  a 
queer  kind.  I  would  give  something  to  see  it  now,  but  pre- 
sume it  has  long  since  "  ended  "  among  the  "  world  and  all  its 
worlds."  It  represented  the  Devil,  with  Ware  himself,  Doughty, 
and  Dante  Gabriel ;  possibly  one  or  two  others.  They  were 
either  playing  whist  at  Ware's  lodgings,  or  enjoying  a  light 
symposium.  Each  head  was  a  tolerably  characteristic  like- 
ness. Mr.  Ware  returned  to  America,  perhaps  before  the 
Doughtys.  I  have  often  been  rather  surprised  that,  in  all 
my  miscellaneous  readings,  I  never  came  across  the  name  of 
him  as  doing  something  or  other — for  his  sharpness  of  faculty 
was  a  good  deal  beyond  the  average.  Thomas  Doughty,  I 
believe,  remained  in  America  quite  undistinguished.  I  take 
him  to  be  dead  for  many  years  past. 

It  may  have  been  through  the  Doughty  connexion  that  my 
brother  got  to  see,  in  an  American  journal,  a  little  copy  of 
verses  whose  monumental  imbecility  delighted  him  beyond 
measure.  It  is  named  The  Atheist,  by  Flora  M elver.  Often 
and  to  many  an  auditor  have  I  heard  my  brother  repeat  The 
Atheist,  and  I  suppose  he  could  have  done  so  to  his  dying 
day.  "  The  idea,"  he  would  say,  "  of  a  confirmed  Atheist  who 
has  never  yet  considered  whether  or  not  a  flower  was  made 
by  a  God  ! "  I  am  tempted  to  extract  the  poem  here  ;  it  may 
perhaps  again  excite  some  of  that  glee  with  which  I  have 
often  seen  it  greeted  aforetime. 

"  The  Atheist  in  his  garden  stood 
At  twilight's  pensive  hour  ; 
His  little  daughter  by  his  side 
Was  gazing  on  a  flower. 

" '  Oh  pick  that  blossom,  Pa,  for  me,' 
The  little  prattler  said ; 
'  It  is  the  fairest  one  that  blooms 
Within  that  lowly  bed.' 

"  The  father  plucked  the  chosen  flower, 
And  gave  it  to  his  child ; 
With  parted  lips  and  sparkling  eye 
She  seized  the  gift,  and  smiled. 


STUDY  FOR  THE   PAINTING   PROFESSION.  9 1 

"  '  Oh  Pa,  who  made  this  pretty  flower, 
This  little  violet  blue  ? 
Who  gave  it  such  a  fragrant  smell 
And  such  a  lovely  hue  ? ' 

"  A  change  came  o'er  the  father's  brow, 
His  eye  grew  strangely  wild  ; 
New  thoughts  within  him  had  been  stirred 
By  that  sweet  artless  child. 

"  The  truth  flashed  on  the  father's  mind, 
The  truth  in   all  its   power ; 
'  There  is  a  God,  my  child,'  he  said, 
1  Who  made  that  little  flower.' " 

This  matter  of  Thomas  Doughty  and  his  circle  has  led  me 
somewhat  out  of  my  track  of  date.  I  now  return  to  the  days 
of  Cary's  Academy,  which  lasted  for  my  brother  from  about 
July  1842  to  July  1846.  As  to  what  he  did  there  I  am  unable 
to  distinguish  much  between  the  earlier  and  the  later  years. 
In  Mrs.  Esther  Wood's  book,  Dante  Rossetti  and  the  Prce- 
rapliaelite  Movement  (1894),1  some  anecdotes  are  given  upon 
the  authority  of  a  fellow-student,  Mr.  J.  A.  Vinter.  They 
speak  of  waywardness  as  a  pupil,  irregular  attendance,  "  a 
certain  brusquerie  and  unapproachableness  of  bearing,"  com- 
bined with  warm  affection  and  generosity,  fondness  for 
practical  jokes,  boisterous  hilarity,  loud  singing,  especially  of 
a  song  about  Alice  Gray,  the  sketching  of  caricatures  of 
antiques,  and  attractive  outlining  produced  by  a  process  con- 
trary to  his  master's  precepts.  Some  of  these  points  I  know, 
and  others  I  readily  surmise,  to  be  correct ;  am  not  however 
so  sure  about  "  practical  jokes."  A  practical  joke  played  off 
by  one   young   student  upon    another  is  usually  something 

1  This  book  has  been  loudly  and  widely  praised,  and  also  severely  criti- 
cized. It  is  very  laudatory  of  Rossetti,  a  fact  which  I  cannot  view  without 
some  favourable  bias  towards  the  book.  In  other  respects  I  may  perhaps 
be  permitted  to  say  that  Mrs.  Wood,  having  commendably  lofty  ideals  and 
ideas  of  her  own,  reads  these  (in  my  opinion)  far  too  freely  into  the  per- 
formances of  the  so-called  Praeraphaelite  painters  and  poets,  and  has  not 
much  notion  of  the  sort  of  thing  that  comes  uppermost  with  a  painter  when 
he  sets  to  work. 


92  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

which  either  mortifies  the  victim,  or  traverses  his  work  in  a 
troublesome  and  annoying  way  ;  and  to  jokes  of  this  sort  I 
should  say  that  Dante  Rossetti  was  not  at  any  time  given, 
but  rather  noticeable  for  shunning  and  censuring  them. 
However,  Mr.  Vinter  ought  to  know  best,  and  I  am  sure  that 
he  does  not  mean  to  lead  to  any  mistaken  inference ;  more- 
over, one  practical  joke  is  clearly  traceable  in  my  Letter  B.  8. 
At  home  my  brother  never  played  any  such  jokes  ;  neither 
was  he  addicted  to  them  at  school,  nor  in  the  slightest  degree 
at  any  period  of  his  fully  adult  life.  For  singing  he  had 
naturally  a  more  than  tolerable  voice  ;  but,  apart  from  mere 
juvenile  outbursts,  he  never  cared  to  use  it,  still  less  to  train 
it,  and  was  even  put  out  if  the  subject  was  alluded  to. 

One  of  the  principal  anecdotes  developes  the  following 
dialogue.  Cary :  Why  were  you  not  here  yesterday  ?  Ros- 
setti :  I  had  a  fit  of  idleness — this  reply  being  succeeded  by 
the  distribution  among  the  students  of"  a  bundle  of  manuscript 
sonnets."  Mr.  Vinter  (or  else  Mrs.  Wood)  assumes  that  these 
sonnets  were  juvenile  affairs,  which  Rossetti,  at  a  later  date, 
would  have  been  sorry  to  see  forthcoming.  To  the  best  of 
my  recollection,  Rossetti,  up  to  July  1846  when  he  left  Cary's, 
did  not  produce  any  sonnets  of  his  own — unless  possibly  (and 
even  these  seem  to  me  to  have  begun  rather  later)  sonnets 
written  to  bouts  rimes,  of  which  at  one  period  he  rattled  off 
a  very  large  number.  The  Vinter  sonnets  may  perhaps  have 
been  some  of  his  translations  from  Dante  and  other  Italian 
poets  ;  these  commenced  as  early  as  1845.  They  were,  from 
the  first,  good  work — indeed  excellent  work — of  which  he 
would  not  at  any  date  have  been  ashamed  ;  although  it  is  true 
that  at  starting  the  youthful  translator  indulged  in  some 
mannerisms  and  quaintnesses  which  he  corrected  before  the 
versions  appeared  in  print  in  1861. 

Apart  from  the  direct  course  of  his  studies,  the  greatest 
artistic  event  to  Dante  Rossetti  during  his  time  at  Cary's  was 
the  opening  of  the  Exhibitions,  at  Westminster  Hall,  of 
Cartoons,  prior  to  the  pictorial  decoration  of  the  new  Houses 
of  Parliament.    These  d  isplays  took  place  in  1843,  '44>  ar>d  '45- 


STUDY   FOR   THE   PAINTING   PROFESSION.  93 

His  letter  of  7  July  1843  bears  testimony  to  the  extreme 
interest  he  took  in  the  first  of  these  Exhibitions  ;  the  second 
was  a  still  more  marking  event  in  his  career,  as  it  made  known 
to  him,  by  the  Cartoons  of  Wilhelmus  Conquistator  (the  Body 
of  Harold  brought  to  William  of  Normandy),  and  Adam  and 
Eve  after  the  Fall,  the  genius  of  Mr.  Ford  Madox  Brown  ; 
the  third  contained  the  Cartoon  of  Justice  and  some  examples 
of  fresco-painting  by  the  same  artist.1  Rossetti  also  saw  at 
an  early  date  two  of  Brown's  oil-pictures,  The  Death-bed  of 
the  Giaour,  and  Parisina. 

In  July  1 846,  having  sent-in  the  requisite  probation-drawings, 
Rossetti  was  admitted  as  a  student  in  the  Antique  School 
of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  Cary's  knew  him  no  more.  Mr. 
George  Jones,  R.A.,  was  the  Keeper  of  the  Antique  School ; 
a  rather  aged  painter,  noted  as  resembling,  on  a  feeble  scale, 
the  great  Duke  of  Wellington,  whose  costume  he  imitated. 
Towards  this  date  he  chiefly  exhibited  sepia-drawings  of 
scriptural  or  military  subjects.  A  gradual  and  reasonable 
amount  of  progress  was  made  in  the  Academy  School,  but 
only  (I  apprehend)  on  the  same  general  lines  as  in  the  initial 
stages  at  Cary's ;  in  other  words,  Rossetti  worked  with  a 
genuine  sense  of  enthusiasm  as  to  the  end  in  view,  but  with 
something  which  might  count  as  indifference  and  laxity  with 
regard  to  the  means  dictated  to  him  as  conducing  to  that  end. 
He  once  said  to  me — it  may  have  been  towards  1857  or  later — 
"  As  soon  as  a  thing  is  imposed  on  me  as  an  obligation,  my 
aptitude  for  doing  it  is  gone  ;  what  I  ought  to  do  is  what  I 
can't  do."  This  went  close  to  the  essence  of  his  character, 
and  was  true  of  him  through  life.  As  the  years  rolled  on, 
what  he  ought  to  do  was  very  often  what  he  chose  and  liked 
to  do,  and  then  the  difficulty  vanished  ;  but  in  his  student 
days  it  consisted  in  attending  assiduously  to  matters  for 
which,  in  themselves,  he  cared  little  or  not  at  all,  and  a  real 
obstruction  was  the  result.  As  his  gift  for  fine  art  was  indis- 
putably far  superior  to  that  of  the  great  majority  of  his  fellow- 

1  I  believe  I  am  correct  as  to  these  several  dates ;  far  wrong  I  cannot  be. 


94  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

students,  and  as  his  drawings  from  the  antique  etc.  were  (I 
presume)  in  reasonable  proportion  to  his  gift,  I  know  of  no 
reason  why  he  did  not  rapidly  complete  his  course  in  the 
Antique  School,  and  proceed  to  the  Life  and  the  Painting 
Schools — which  he  never  did — except  this  same  : — That  the 
obligation  which  lay  upon  him  was  to  fag  over  the  antique 
and  cognate  first  steps  in  art,  and  that,  being  obliged,  he 
found  the  will  to  be  lacking.  A  resolute  sense  of  duty,  firm 
faith  in  his  instructors,  and  a  disposition  to  do  what  was 
wanted  in  the  same  way  as  other  people,  might  have  furnished 
the  will.  But  all  these  qualities  were  also  at  that  time  lack- 
ing, or  present  in  a  scanty  degree.  He  liked  to  do  what  he 
himself  chose,  and,  even  if  he  did  what  some  one  else  pre- 
scribed, he  liked  to  do  that  more  or  less  in  his  own  way. 

We  are  now  approaching,  though  we  have  not  yet  reached, 
the  period  when  the  "  Praeraphaelite  idea  "  developed  itself 
in  the  minds  of  three  Academy  students — John  Everett 
Millais  and  William  Holman  Hunt,  each  of  whom  had 
already  exhibited  some  pictures  of  his  own,  and  Dante 
Gabriel  Rossetti,  who  had  not  exhibited.  It  will  be  well 
therefore  that  I  should  guide  my  narrative  of  Rossetti's 
student-days,  as  far  as  manageable,  by  the  details  published 
by  Mr.  Hunt,  and  also  by  another  of  the  original  Praeraphael- 
ites,  Mr.  Stephens.1  Rossetti  preceded  Hunt  as  an  Academy 
student.     Up  to   May    1848,  as   Mr.  Hunt  says,— 

"  I  had  only  been  on  nodding-terms  with  him  in  the  school.  He 
had  always  a  following  of  noisy  students  there,  and  these  had  kept 
me  from  approaching  him  with  more  than  a  nod,  except  when  once 
I  found  him  perched  on  some  steps  drawing  Ghiberti,  whom  I  also 
studied ;  that  nobody  else  did  so  had  given  us  subject  for  five 
minutes'  talk." 

The    statement    that     Rossetti     was     "  drawing     Ghiberti " 

1  Mr.  Hunt's  contribution  consists  of  three  articles  in  The  Contemporary 
Review  for  1886,  The  Praraphaelite  Brotherhood.  Mr.  Stephens's  mono- 
graph has  been  already  referred  to.  Mr.  Hunt  has  also  published  an 
able  article  Praraphaelitism,  in  Chambers's  Encyclopaedia. 


STUDY   FOR   THE   PAINTING   PROFESSION.  95 

means,  of  course,  that  he  was  drawing  from  a  cast  of 
the  famous  Florentine  bronze  doors,  Ghiberti's  work  in  the 
early  fifteenth  century.  I  remember  that  he  used  to  speak 
to  me  with  great  fervency  of  the  grace  of  motive,  the 
abundance  of  artistic  invention,  and  the  fine  handling,  of 
the  doors  ;  and  Mr.  Hunt's  statement  on  this  small  point 
is  of  substantial  interest,  as  showing  that  both  he  and 
Rossetti  had  gravitated  towards  this  mediaeval  work  at  a 
date  possibly  a  full  year  before  Praeraphaelitism  took  any 
sort  of  definite  shape. 

I  will  also  extract  (with  a  few  comments)  Mr.  Hunt's 
description  of  Rossetti's  person  and  manner.  It  is  better — 
at  any  rate,  in  some  respects — than  any  which  I  could  supply, 
and  will  moreover  be  more  readily  believed  in  by  the  public. 

"A  young  man  of  decidedly  foreign  aspect,  about  5  feet  7! 
in  height,  with  long  brown  hair  touching  his  shoulders  [this  is 
strongly  shown  in  the  pencil  drawing  by  Rossetti  now  in  the 
National  Portrait  Gallery,  but  it  did  not  continue  long],  not  taking 
care  to  walk  erect,  but  rolling  carelessly  as  he  slouched  along, 
pouting  with  parted  lips,  staring  with  dreaming  eyes — the  pupils  not 
reaching  the  bottom  lids — grey  eyes,  not  looking  directly  at  any 
point,  but  gazing  listlessly  about;  the  openings  large  and  oval,  the 
lower  orbits  dark-coloured.  His  nose  was  aquiline  but  delicate, 
with  a  depression  from  the  frontal  sinus  shaping  the  bridge  [a  very 
observable  point] ;  the  nostrils  full,  the  brow  rounded  and  prominent, 
and  the  line  of  the  jaw  angular  and  marked,  while  still  uncovered 
with  beard  [the  angularity  departed  or  diminished  with  advancing 
years].  His  shoulders  were  not  square,  but  yet  fairly  masculine  in 
shape.  The  singularity  of  gait  depended  upon  the  width  of  hip, 
which  was  unusual.  Altogether  he  was  a  lightly  built  man  [later 
on  he  was  often  decidedly  but  varyingly  fat],  with  delicate  hands 
and  feet :  although  neither  weak  nor  fragile  in  constitution,  he  was 
nevertheless  altogether  unaffected  by  any  athletic  exercises.  He 
was  careless  in  his  dress,  which  then  was,  as  usual  with  professional 
men,  black  and  of  evening  cut  [this  matter  of  black  evening  dress 
altered  very  soon;  and  indeed,  from  1851  or  thereabouts,  my 
brother  ceased  to  be,  in  any  noticeable  way,  careless  or  odd  in 
attire,  and  at  times  was  even  rather  particular  about  it].     So  superior 


96  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

was  he  to  the  ordinary  vanities  of  young  men  that  he  would  allow 
the  spots  of  mud  to  remain  dry  on  his  legs  for  several  days.  His 
overcoat  was  brown,  and  not  put  on  with  ordinary  attention ;  and, 
with  his  pushing  stride  and  loud  voice  [I  feel  some  doubt  as  to  the 
loud  voice — should  call  it  emphatic  and  full-toned  rather  than  loud], 
a  special  scrutiny  would  have  been  needed  to  discern  the  reserved 
tenderness  that  dwelt  in  the  breast  of  the  apparently  careless  and 
defiant  youth.  But  any  one  who  approached  and  addressed  him 
was  struck  with  sudden  surprise  to  find  all  his  critical  impressions 
dissipated  in  a  moment;  for  the  language  of  the  painter  was  refined 
and  polished,  and  he  proved  to  be  courteous,  gentle,  and  winsome, 
generous  in  compliment,  rich  in  interest  in  the  pursuit  of  others, 
and  in  every  respect,  so  far  as  could  be  shown  by  manner,  a  culti- 
vated gentleman.  ...  In  these  early  days,  with  all  his  headstrong- 
ness  and  a  certain  want  of  consideration,  his  life  within  was  untainted 
to  an  exemplary  degree,  and  he  worthily  rejoiced  in  the  poetic 
atmosphere  of  the  sacred  and  spiritual  dreams  that  then  encircled 
him,  however  some  of  his  noisy  demonstrations  at  the  time  might 
hinder  this  from  being  recognized  by  a  hasty  judgment." 

Mr.  Stephens,  quoting  from  "  a  fellow-student,"  says  that — 

"  Fame  of  a  sort  had  preceded "  Rossetti  from  Cary's  to  the 
Academy  School.  Other  Caryites  had  talked  of  him  "  as  a  poet 
whose  verses  had  been  actually  printed  [this  can  only  mean  Sir 
Hugh  the  Heron],  and  as  a  clever  sketcher  of  chivalric  and  satiric 
subjects,  who  in  addition  did  all  sorts  of  things  in  all  sorts  of 
unconventional  ways.  His  rather  high  cheek-bones  were  the  more 
observable  because  his  cheeks  were  roseless  and  hollow  enough  to 
indicate  the  waste  of  life  and  midnight  oil  to  which  the  youth  was 
addicted."  He,  on  his  first  appearance  in  the  Academy  School, 
"  came  forward  among  his  fellows  with  a  jerky  step,  tossed  the  falling 
hair  back  from  his  face,  and,  having  both  hands  in  his  pockets,  faced 
the  student-world  with  an  insouciant  air  which  savoured  of  defiance, 
mental  pride,  and  thorough  self-reliance." 

The  reference  here  to  "  waste  of  midnight  oil ''  is  quite 
true.  My  brother  had  already  acquired  habits,  which  stuck 
to  him  through  life,  of  not  going  to  bed  until  he  happened 
to  be  so  disposed,  often  at  two  or  three  in  the  morning,  and 


STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,   READING,   AND   WRITING.     97 

of  not  getting  up  until  necessity  compelled  or  fancy  suggested. 
"  Always  wilful,  never  methodical,  and  the  consequences  to 
take  care  of  themselves,"  might  have  been  his  motto.  It  is 
true,  however,  that  in  mature  life  he  settled  down  into  habits 
of  the  utmost  day-by-day  regularity  in  professional  work. 

Rossetti  went  a  great  deal  to  the  theatre  towards  1845,  and 
for  some  six  or  seven  years  ensuing,  and  again  about  1861  ; 
little  at  other  dates,  and  after  1 868  or  so  not  at  all.  He  liked 
— in  its  way — almost  any  theatre,  and  almost  any  piece  that 
was  either  genuinely  poetical,  or  exciting,  or  entertaining  ; 
nothing  of  a  dull  or  stuck-up  kind.  Miss  Woolgar  (Mrs 
Mellon)  at  the  Adelphi,  and  afterwards  Miss  Glyn  at  Sadler's 
Wells,  were  two  of  his  favourite  actresses.  If  Shakespear  or 
John  Webster  was  not  "going,"  an  Adelphi  drama  by  Buck- 
stone  or  a  burlesque  of  the  Forty  Thieves  would  do  perfectly 
well.  He  was  also  much  amused  at  thoroughly  bad  drama  and 
acting,  such  as  could  be  seen  at  the  Queen's  Theatre  near 
Tottenham  Court  Road  (afterwards  Prince  of  Wales's  Theatre). 


X. 

STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,   READING,    AND    WRITING. 

As  we  have  just  seen,  Dante  Rossetti  was  known  at  Cary's 
Academy  for  sketching  "  chivalric  and  satiric  subjects."  There 
must  have  been  great  numbers  of  these,  proper  both  to  the 
Cary  period  and  to  the  Royal  Academy  period.  Possibly 
some  still  exist,  in  the  hands  of  his  companions  of  those  days  ; 
I  myself  know  of  but  few.  There  is  nothing  in  them  tending 
to  what  we  call  Praeraphaelitism. 

The  early  letters  of  Rossetti  show  that  no  artist  delighted 
him  more  intensely  than  Gavarni  (Guillaume  Sulpice 
Chevalier),  the  French  designer  for  lithographs  and  woodcuts. 
Among  his  series  are  Les  Artistes,  Les  Coulisses,  Le  Carnaval, 
Les  Enfants  Terribles,  Les  Etudiants  de  Paris,  Les  Lorettes, 
Fourberies  de  Femnies  en  mature  de  Sentiment  etc.  He  was 
a  designer  of  supreme  facility,  with  much  of  elegance   and 

vol.  1.  7 


98  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

esprit,  and  in  his  way  a  master  ;  but  naturally  the  way  does 
not  tend  towards  anything  castigated  or  ideal.  It  will  be 
observed  in  the  Letters  that  in  1843  and  1844  my  brother 
spent  some  time  in  Boulogne  with  the  Maenza  family.  This 
served  to  fix  his  attention  still  further  upon  Gavarni  and 
other  French  designers  of  a  vivacious  and  picturesque  kind  ; 
though  not  wholly  to  the  exclusion  of  British  artists,  among 
whom  he  greatly  (and  indeed  permanently)  admired  Sir 
John  Gilbert  as  a  woodcut-draughtsman,  and  soon  afterwards 
as  a  painter.  In  some  pen-and-ink  designs  by  Dante  Rossetti, 
of  the  close  of  1844  and  on  to  September  1846,  I  trace  much 
of  what  he  saw  in  Gavarni,  and  tried  to  reproduce  in  his  own 
practice.  They  are  sketchy,  and  rather  rough  or  unrefined 
in  execution,  but  not  wanting  in  spirit — the  work  now  of  an 
artist,  though  only  of  an  artist  at  the  beginning  of  his  career. 
One  is  termed  Quartier  Latin,  the  Modem  Raphael  and  his 
Fornarina.  To  April  1846  belongs  a  half-figure  of  Mephis- 
topheles  at  the  door  of  Gretchen's  cell.  The  malignant  expres- 
sion is  telling.  Undated,  but  belonging  1  suppose  to  1847,  is 
a  drawing,  clever  in  its  way,  of  a  man  seated,  and  reaching 
towards  a  flitting  ghost ;  two  other  figures  are  evidently 
unconscious  of  the  apparition.  Lady  Anne  BotJiwell  's  Lament, 
from  Percy's  Reliques,  is  a  drawing,  not  fully  completed,  of 
some  sentiment  and  some  picturesqueness.  At  one  time, 
I  suppose  1845,  he  tried  his  hand  at  lithographing,  and  pro- 
duced a  figure  of  Juliette,  from  Frederic  Soulier's  novel  (a 
prime  favourite  with  him  in  these  days)  Les  Memoires  du 
Diable.  This  is  poor  enough,  yet  not  destitute  of  a  certain 
cliique.  He  also  lithographed  a  set  of  humorous  playing- 
cards — Ireland  as  the  Queen  of  Clubs,  Shakespear  as  the 
King  of  Hearts,  Death  as  the  King  of  Spades,  etc.  They 
have  some  fancy  and  point,  with  pleasing  arrangement  here 
and  there,  and  might  perhaps  have  been  popular  if  published. 
He  thought  of  trying  for  a  publisher,  but  I  doubt  whether 
he  ever  took  any  practical  steps  for  this  end.  Death  is 
represented  as  a  Grave-digger,  wearing  a  pair  of  baggy 
breeches,  and  standing  in  a  grave.     One  sees  only  a  part  of 


STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,   READING,   AND   WRITING.     99 

his  leg-bones.  These  may  perhaps  be  meant  for  his  thigh- 
bones ;  but  it  seems  quite  as  likely  that  they  are  intended  for 
the  bones  of  the  lower  leg.  If  so,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
Rossetti  gave  this  skeleton  only  one  bone  to  each  of  his 
lower  legs,  instead  of  the  normal  two,  and  his  anatomical 
knowledge  could  thus  have  been  small  indeed  towards  1845. 
Strange  to  say,  Holbein,  in  his  Dance  of  Death,  knew  no 
better.  Of  more  present  interest  is  an  illustrated  copy  of 
the  little  privately-printed  volume,  Verses  by  Christina  G. 
Rossetti,  1847.  I  possess  the  copy  of  this  volume  bearing  the 
inscriptions,  "  Frances  Mary  Lavinia  Rossetti,  from  her  loving 
daughter  Christina,  24  July  1854,"  and  then  "  Fratri  Soror, 
C.G.R.,  Sept.  25,  1890"  (my  sixty-first  birthday).  It  contains 
five  pencil  drawings  by  Dante,  all  of  them  produced,  I  should 
say,  before  the  year  1847  nad  closed.  The  frontispiece  is 
a  profile  portrait  of  Christina,  carefully  and  delicately  done. 
The  illustrations  are  to  the  poems,  A  Ruined  Cross,  Tasso 
and  Leonora,  The  Dream,  and  Lady  Lsabella  (who  was  Lady 
Isabella  Howard,  a  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Wicklow,  and 
a  pupil  of  our  Aunt  Charlotte  Polidori).  These  designs, 
though  inferior  to  the  portrait,  are  also  handled  with  nicety 
and  good  taste.  The  last-named  must  have  been  produced 
a  little  later  than  the  others,  as  it  is  not  bound  into  the 
volume.  A  noteworthy  point  about  the  designs  is  the  total 
absence  of  any  feeling  for  costume.  There  are  clothes,  but 
of  that  nondescript  kind  which,  in  the  male  figures,  is  evi- 
denced by  little  more  than  a  slight  line  at  the  throat,  and  two 
others  at  the  wrists.  Tasso  and  Leonora  might  be  anybody 
or  nobody. 

Before  Praeraphaelitism  came  at  all  into  question  my  brother 
began  an  oil-picture  of  good  dimensions.  It  was  named 
Retro  me  Sathana,  and  formed  a  group  of  three  mediaeval- 
costumed  figures — an  aged  churchman  and  a  youthful  lady, 
and  the  devil  slinking  behind  them  baffled.  He  was  a  human 
being  with  a  tail.  This  must  have  been  undertaken  in  1847, 
when  my  brother  had  no  practice  with  pigments,  and  was 
continued  for  some  three   or  four  months.      It   was   not,    I 


100  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

apprehend,  altogether  amiss  ;  at  what  date  it  was  destroyed 
I  hardly  know.  He  had  begun  the  colouring,  and  showed  the 
work  privately  to  Sir  Charles  Eastlake,  who  did  not  encourage 
him  to  proceed  with  any  such  subject.  Soon  after  this  it 
was  abandoned. 

Rossetti's  taste  for  reading,  in  all  the  days  of  his  youth, 
was  never  stationary ;  it  continued  shifting  and  developing. 
Having  drunk  deep  of  one  author,  he  went  on  to  another.  In 
1844  some  one  told  him  that  there  was  another  poet  of  the 
Byronic  epoch,  Shelley,  even  greater  than  Byron.  He  bought 
a  small  pirated  Shelley,  and  surged  through  its  pages  like  a 
flame.  I  do  not  think  that  he  ever  afterwards  read  much  of 
Byron  ;  although,  as  his  mind  matured,  he  was  not  inclined  to 
allow  that  the  poet  of  such  an  actuality  as  Don  Juan  could 
be  deemed  inferior  to  the  poet  of  such  a  vision  as  Prometheus 
Unbound.  (Not  indeed  that  he  approved  of  Don  Juan,  as 
regards  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  written.  Early  in  1880  he 
went  so  far  as  to  tell  me  that  he  considered  it  a  truly  immoral 
and  harmful_  book.)  Keats  followed  not  long  after  Shelley, 
in  1846,  or  perhaps  1845.  My  brother  considered  himself  to 
have  been  one  of  the  earliest  strenuous  admirers  of  Keats, 
but  this  can  only  be  correct  in  a  certain  sense.  The  Old 
British  Ballads  and  Mrs.  Browning  were  read  with  endless 
enjoyment  ;  also  Alfred  de  Musset  (I  have  previously  men- 
tioned Victor  Hugo),  Dumas  (dramas,  and  afterwards  novels), 
Tennyson,  Edgar  Poe,  Coleridge,  Blake,  Sir  Henry  Taylor's 
Philip  van  Artevelde,  Thomas  Hood — more  especially  some  of 
his  serious  poems,  such  as  Lycus  the  Centaur  and  The  Haunted 
House,  and  the  semi-serious  Miss  Killi  nans  egg  and  her  Precious 
Leg,  though  some  of  his  roaring  jocularities  were  also  much 
in  favour.  As  to  Dr.  Hake's  nebulous  but  impressive  romance, 
Vates,  some  details  will  appear  elsewhere.  Hoffmann's  Contes 
Fantastiques  (in  French),  and  in  English  Chamisso's  Peter 
Schlemihl,  and  Lamotte-Fouques  Undine  and  other  stories, 
represented  the  Teutonic  element  in  romance  and  legend. 
It  may  have  been  towards  1846  that  my  brother  came  upon 
the  prose  Stories  after  Nature  of  Charles  Wells,  and  his  poetic 


STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,  READING,  AND  WRITING.    IOI 

drama  of  Joseph  and  his  Brethren.  These  works,  already  half- 
forgotten  at  that  date,  were  enormously  admired  by  Rossetti, 
and  the  ultimate  outcome  of  his  admiration,  transfused  through 
the  potent  faculty  and  pen  of  Mr.  Swinburne,  was  the  republi- 
cation of  the  drama  about  1877.  Earlier  than  most  of  these — 
beginning,  I  suppose,  in  1844 — was  the  Irish  romancist 
Maturin,  who  held  Dante  Rossetti  spellbound  with  the 
gloomy  and  thrilling  horrors  of  Melmoth  the  Wanderer.  He 
and  I  used  often  to  sit  far  into  the  night  reading  the  pages 
one  over  the  other's  shoulder ;  and,  if  to  stir  the  imagination 
of  an  imaginative  youth  is  one  aim  of  such  a  romance  as 
Melmoth,  no  author  can  ever  have  succeeded  more  manifestly 
than  Maturin  with  Dante  Rossetti.  There  was  another  grim 
romance  of  his,  named  Montorio,  which  we  thought  a  splendid 
pendent  to  Melmoth  ;  not  to  speak  of  Women,  The  Wild  Irish 
Boy,  and  The  Albigenses  ;  Maturin's  once-celebrated  verse- 
drama  of  Bertram,  and  some  other  poems  of  his,  were  eagerly 
inspected,  but  without  any  genuine  result  to  correspond.  Two 
other  English  novels  which  he  read  in  these  years  with  keen 
enjoyment  were  the  Tristram  Shandy  of  Sterne,  and  the 
Richard  Savage  of  Charles  Whitehead  ;  and  in  French,  by 
Reybaud,  Jerome  Paturot  a  la  recherche  d'une  Position  Sociale, 
and,  by  Eugene  Sue,  the  Mysteres  de  Paris,  the  JuiJ  Errant, 
and  Mathilde.  In  Dickens  my  brother's  interest  may  have 
been  on  the  wane  when  Dombey  and  Son  began  in  1846, 
though  I  suppose  he  also  read  David  Copperfield,  1849.  In 
his  last  days  he  was  much  struck  with  the  Tale  oj  Two  Cities. 
To  Dickens  succeeded  Thackeray,  who  was  most  highly 
appreciated  :  his  early  tales  in  Frasers  Magazine,  such  as 
Fitzboodle"  s  Conjessions  and  Barry  Lyndon,  and  The  Paris 
Sketchbook  (even  before  Vanity  Fair  appeared  in  1 846),  also 
The  Book  oj  Snobs.  Later  on,  a  novel  ascribed  to  Lady 
Malet,  Violet  or  the  Danseuse,  was  a  great  favourite  ;  and 
he  had  a  positive  passion  for  Meinhold's  wondrous  Sidonia 
the  Sorceress  (translated),  which  he  much  preferred  to  the 
Amber  Witch  of  the  same  phenomenal  author. 

At   last — it   may  have   been   in    1847 — everything  took  a 


102  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

secondary  place  in  comparison  with  Robert  Browning. 
Paracelsus,  Sordello,  Pippa  Passes,  The  Blot  on  the  Scutcheon, 
and  the  short  poems  in  the  Bells  and  Pomegranates  series, 
were  endless  delights  ;  endless  were  the  readings,  and  end- 
less the  recitations.  Allowing  for  a  labyrinthine  passage  here 
and  there,  Rossetti  never  seemed  to  find  this  poet  difficult 
to  understand  ;  he  discerned  in  him  plenty  of  sonorous 
rhythmical  effect,  and  revelled  in  what,  to  some  other 
readers,  was  mere  crabbedness.  Confronted  with  Browning, 
all  else  seemed  pale  and  in  neutral  tint.  Here  were  passion, 
observation,  aspiration,  medisevalism,  the  dramatic  perception 
of  character,  act,  and  incident.  In  short,  if  at  this  date 
Rossetti  had  been  accomplished  in  the  art  of  painting,  he 
would  have  carried  out  in  that  art  very  much  the  same  range 
of  subject  and  treatment  which  he  found  in  Browning's 
poetry  ;  and  it  speaks  something  for  his  originality  and  self- 
respecting  independence  that,  when  it  came  to  verse-writing, 
he  never  based  himself  upon  Browning  to  any  appreciable 
extent,  and  for  the  most  part  pursued  a  wholly  diverse  path. 
It  should  not  be  supposed  that,  in  glorifying  Browning, 
Rossetti  slighted  other  poets  previously  the  objects  of  his 
homage.  He  valued  them  at  the  same  rate  as  before,  though 
he  thought  Browning  a  step  further  in  advance.  I  need 
scarcely  add  that  Shakespear  and  Dante  are  to  be  excepted, 
for  at  no  time  would  he  have  denied  or  contested  the 
superiority  of  these,  even  to  the  poet  of  Sordello.  The  time 
of  Dante  had  come  some  three  years  before  that  of  Browning 
began,  and  the  current  of  Rossetti's  love  for  the  Florentine 
flowed  wider  and  deeper  month  by  month. 

It  may  be  noted  that  (as  in  a  previous  instance)  I  have 
not  specified  any  books  of  a  so-called  solid  kind — history, 
biography,  or  voyages.  Science  and  metaphysics  were  totally 
out  of  Rossetti's  ken.  I  do  not  believe  that  he  read  any  such 
books  at  this  period — very  few  at  any  later  period,  among 
the  few  BosweWs  Jolmso7i  holding  a  high  place.  In  current 
talk  Rossetti  did  not  appear  to  be  much  behind  other  persons 
when   history  or    biography  was  referred   to ;    but    I    hardly 


STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,  READING,  AND  WRITING.    103 

know  what  historical  volumes  he  opened,  other  than  Carlyle's 
French  Revolution,  Merivale's  Roman  Empire,  and  something 
of  Plutarch  and  of  Gibbon.  The  great  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough's English  History  came  out  of  Shakespear's  plays  ; 
Rossetti's  English  and  other  history  derived  largely  from  the 
same  source,  supplemented  by  those  adust  chroniclers,  Walter 
Scott,  Bulwer,  Victor  Hugo,  and  Dumas.  This  was  not  to 
our  father's  liking.  I  have  more  than  once  heard  him  say, 
"  When  you  have  read  a  novel  of  Walter  Scott,  what  do  you 
know?     The  fancies  of  Walter  Scott." 

Rossetti  had  commenced  some  prose  story  before  he  left 
King's  College  School  in  the  summer  of  1842.  I  am  not 
certain  whether  that  story  was  or  was  not  the  same  thing 
as  Sorrentino.  At  any  rate,  a  prose  tale  named  Sorrentino 
was  in  course  of  composition  in  August  1843.  I  remember 
something  of  it,  but  not  in  clear  detail.  The  Devil  (a  per- 
sonage of  great  predilection  with  my  brother  ever  since  his 
early  acquaintance  with  Gothe's  Faust,  which  drama  he 
read  and-  re-read  afterwards  in  Filmore's  translation)  was 
a  principal  character.  There  was  a  love-story,  in  the  course 
of  which  the  Devil  interfered  in  a  very  exasperating  way 
between  the  lover  and  his  fair  one.  He  either  personated 
the  lover,  or  conjured-up  a  phantom  of  the  lady,  and  made 
love  to  her,  and  was  seen  by  the  lover  in  the  act- -or 
something  of  this  kind.  There  was  also  a  duel  in  which 
he  intermixed.  Rossetti  wrote  some  four  or  five  chapters 
of  this  story,  on  the  scale  of  chapters  in  an  ordinary  novel, 
and  he  contemplated  offering  Sorrentino  for  publication. 
Finally  he  abandoned  it,  and  I  dare  say  he  had  destroyed 
the  MS.  before  he  was  of  age.  I  have  always  rather 
regretted  the  disappearance  of  Sorrentino.  To  my  boyish 
notion,  it  was  spirited,  effective,  and  well  told  ;  and  I  fancy 
that,  were  it  extant,  it  would  be  found  by  far  better  than 
his  previous  small  literary  attempts.  That  he  entered  fully 
into  the  spirit  of  a  story  of  diablerie  is  certain  ;  and,  having  by 
this  time  some  moderate  command  over  his  pen,  he  may  have 
been  not  incapable  of  doing  something  in  that  line  himself. 


104  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTl. 

His  next  literary  incentive  arose  out  of  his  German  studies 
— which  began,  as  already  mentioned,  towards  the  earlier 
part  of  1 842.  Dr.  Heimann  brought  him  so  far  on  in  German 
that  Dante  Rossetti  made  a  verse-translation  of  Burger's 
Lenore,  perhaps  in  1844.  This  likewise  has  perished.  I 
suppose  it  was  much  on  a  par  with  most  other  versions  of 
the  ballad.  I  can  recollect  two  stanzas  (and  might,  were 
there  a  little  prompting,  recollect  others  as  well),  one  close  to 
the  beginning  of  the  poem,  and  the  other  at  its  end  : — 

"The  Empress  and  the  King, 
With  ceaseless  quarrel  tired, 
At  length  relaxed  the  stubborn  hate 
Which  rivalry  inspired." 

And 

"  Patience,  patience,  while  thy  heart  is  breaking — 
With  thy  God  there  is  no  question-making  ; 
Of  thy  body  thou  art  quit  and  free — 
Heaven  keep  thy  soul  eternally  ! " 

From  Lenore  he  proceeded  to  a  more  ambitious  adventure 
— no  less  than  a  translation  of  the  Nibelungenlied.  This 
mighty  old  poem  seized  hold  upon  him  with  a  vice-like 
clench  ;  yet  I  do  not  suppose  he  ever  read  the  whole  of  it, 
his  knowledge  of  German,  unaided,  being  hardly  sufficient  for 
such  an  effort.  Neureuther's  illustrated  edition,  combined 
with  Dr.  Heimann's  explanations,  showed  him  the  course  of 
the  narrative.  The  translation  was  begun  in  October  1845, 
and  went  on  to  the  end  of  the  5  th  Geste,  or  thereabouts, 
where  Siegfried  first  sees  Kriemhild.  No  trace  of  it  remains. 
Speaking  from  long-past  memory,  I  should  say  that  this  was 
really  a  fine  translation,  with  rolling  march  and  a  sense  of 
the  heroic.  The  merits  of  the  next  translation  are  not  matter 
of  conjecture,  for  it  got  finally  printed  in  Rossetti's  Collected 
Works,  1886.  It  is  from  the  Anne  Heinrich  of  the  twelfth- 
century  poet  Hartmann  von  Aue,  and  belongs  probably  to 
the  year  1846.  For  simplicity,  vigour,  perception  of  the 
character  of  the  original,  and  tact  in  conveying  this    along 


STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,  READING,  AND  WRITING.    10$ 

with  a  certain  heightened  and  spontaneous  colouring  of  his 
own,  this  version  could  not  easily  be  excelled.  My  brother 
put  some  finishing  touches  to  the  translation  in  1871.  Pro- 
bably he  cut  out  some  juvenilities,  but  it  remains  substantially 
and  essentially  the  performance  of  his  adolescence. 

Even  before  the  Anne  Heinrich  Rossetti's  translations 
from  the  early  Italian  poets  must  have  begun.  The  dates  of 
most  of  these  range  from  1845  to  1849.  Glowing  from  the 
flame-breath  of  Dante  Alighieri,  Dante  Rossetti  made  con- 
tinual incursions  into  the  Old  Reading-room  of  the  British 
Museum,  hunting  up  volumes  of  the  most  ancient  Italian 
lyrists,  and  also  volumes  of  modern  British  poets,  and  maybe 
of  French  as  well.  No  doubt  this  pursuit  involved  some 
partial  neglect  of  his  artistic  studies.  When  he  found  an 
Italian  poem  that  pleased  him  he  set-to  at  translating  it.  He 
had  soon  got  together  a  good  deal  of  material,  and  gradually 
the  idea  of  collecting  all  into  a  book,  including  a  version  of 
Dante's  Vita  Nuova,  grew  into  shape.  Almost  all  the  trans- 
lations from  Dante  may  have  been  done  at  home,  where  of 
course  the  youth  had  ready  access  to  his  writings,  and  to 
those  of  several  other  old  Italians.  I  cannot  say  which  branch 
of  the  subject  may  have  been  undertaken  first ;  possibly  the 
version  of  the  Vita  Nuova,  prose  and  poetry,  had  been  made 
before  any  researches  at  the  British  Museum  commenced. 
This  version  was  shown  in  November  1850  to  Tennyson,  with 
whom  my  brother  and  others  of  our  circle  had  made  some 
acquaintance  through  Mr.  Coventry  Patmore.  He  returned 
the  MS.,  saying  that  it  was  very  strong  and  earnest,  but 
disfigured  by  some  cockney  rhymes,  such  as  "  calm "  and 
"  arm."  Rossetti  at  once  determined  to  remove  these.  The 
book  of  The  Early  Italian  Poets  did  not  appear  in  print  until 
1 86 1,  and  meanwhile  my  brother  had  often  gone  over  his 
first  MSS.,  revising,  improving,  and  suppressing  crudities  or 
quaintnesses.  Still  (as  in  the  case  of  the  Anne  HeinricJi) 
the  published  translations  are,  in  main  essentials,  the  same 
which  Rossetti  wrote  down  in  these  juvenile  years — the 
impulse  and  the  savour  of  them  are  the  same  ;  and  any  praise 


106  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTl. 

deserved  by  and  awarded  to  the  man  who  issued  the  book  in 
1 86 1  appertains  rightfully  to  the  youth  who  worked  upon  it 
in  1845  and  the  few  following  years.  The  translations  have 
been  very  generally  recognized  as  first-class  work  of  their 
order — re-castings  of  poems  into  another  language  such  as 
could  only  be  accomplished  by  a  poet  in  his  own  right. 
Instead  of  expressing  any  opinion  of  my  own,  I  will  repro- 
duce two  verdicts  by  writers  of  exceptional  competence  from 
their  respective  standpoints.  Mr.  Swinburne,  the  most 
lavishly  generous  of  critics  when  he  finds  something  that  he 
can  have  the  luxury  of  praising,  says  in  that  review  of  the 
Poems  of  Rossetti  which  he  published  in  1 870  :  "  All  Mr. 
Rossetti's  translations  bear  the  same  evidence  of  a  power  not 
merely  beyond  reach  but  beyond  attempt  of  other  artists  in 
language."  My  other  authority  is  Signor  Carlo  Placci  of 
Florence,  who,  immediately  after  Rossetti's  death  in  1882, 
produced  a  brochure  entitled  Dante  Gabriele  Rossetti.  The 
testimony  of  a  native  Italian  well  versed  in  English  may  carry 
with  it  a  weight  hardly  inferior  to  that  of  the  greatest  con- 
temporary master  of  English  verse.  I  quote  it  with  the  more 
pleasure  as  it  does  justice  also  to  Mr.  Swinburne's  own 
powers  as  a  translator  : — 

"The  collection  of  the  Poets  of  Italy  of  the  first  centuries  is  a 
work  undoubtedly  extraordinary.  The  diverse  styles,  the  opposite 
turns  of  sentiment,  the  various  and  complicated  forms,  the  difficult 
allegories,  the  intricate  rhymes,  all  is  rendered  in  a  surprising  way ; 
and  the  very  spirit  of  our  language  seems  reflected,  with  all  its 
poetry  and  its  pictorial  aspect,  in  these  translations — which  certainly 
do  not  yield  to  the  best  version  of  a  foreign  poet  done  in  our  days, 
I  mean  that  of  Villon  executed  by  Swinburne.  Like  him,  Rossetti 
has  been  able  not  only  to  enter  into  that  life  so  different  from  the 
English,  and  steal  the  spark  proper  to  another  idiom,  in  such  wise 
as  to  astound  even  those  who  know  the  original  thoroughly;  but, 
preserving  all  the  grace  and  elegance  and  candour  of  his  model,  he 
has  sought,  and  successfully,  to  re-fashion,  without  visible  effort, 
their  metres  and  repeated  rhymes,  and  all  the  devices  of  alliteration, 
assonance,  and  repetition,  which  are  certainly  not  less  difficult  in 


STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,  READING,  AND  WRITING.    107 

the  canzoni  of  our  thirteenth-century  men  than  in  the  daring  ballades 
of  Francois  Villon.  In  the  case  of  both  poets  this  has  been  not 
merely  a  masterpiece,  but  a  true  struggle  crowned  with  success, 
especially  when  we  reflect  on  the  intrinsic  difference  which  exists 
between  the  Teutonic  and  the  Latin  families  of  language." 

Not  as  a  translator  only  but  also  as  an  original  poet, 
Rossetti's  faculty  was  fully  developed  by  1847.  One  proof  of 
this  suffices — that  he  wrote  The  Blessed  Damozel  before  12 
May  of  that  year,  or  while  still  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his 
age.  By  saying  that  his  faculty  was  now  fully  developed,  I 
do  not  mean  to  imply  that  it  did  not  afterwards  ripen — which 
assuredly  it  did — in  several  important  respects  ;  but  that  he 
had  now  ideas  of  a  memorable  kind  to  express,  and  could 
and  did  express  them  in  verse  wholly  adequate  for  their 
embodiment.  He  meant  something  good — he  knew  what 
he  meant — and  he  knew  how  to  convey  it  to  others.  The 
Blessed  Damozel  was  written  with  a  view  to  its  insertion  in  a 
MS.  Family-magazine,  of  brief  vitality.  In  1881  Rossetti 
gave  Mr.  Caine  an  account  of  its  origin,  as  deriving  from  his 
perusal  and  admiration  of  Edgar  Foe's  Raven.  "  I  saw " 
(this  is  Mr.  Caine's  version  of  Rossetti's  statement)  "  that  Poe 
had  done  the  utmost  it  was  possible  to  do  with  the  grief  of 
the  lover  on  earth,  and  I  determined  to  reverse  the  conditions, 
and  give  utterance  to  the  yearning  of  the  loved  one  in 
heaven."  Along  with  The  Raven,  other  poems  by  Poe — 
Ulalume,  For  Annie,  The  Haunted  Palace,  and  many  another 
— were  a  deep  well  of  delight  to  Rossetti  in  all  these  years. 
He  once  wrote  a  parody  of  Ulalume.  I  do  not  rightly 
remember  it,  nor  has  it  left  a  vestige  behind. 

The  poem  named  My  Sister's  Sleep  was,  I  think,  even 
earlier  than  The  Blessed  Damozel;  The  Portrait  and  Ave  very 
little  later,  also  all  the  opening  portion  of  Dante  at  Verona, 
A  Last  Confession,  and  The  Bride's  Prelude.  Jenny  (in  its 
first  form,  which  had  none  of  that  slight  framework  of 
incident  now  belonging  to  the  poem)  was  begun  almost  as 
soon  as  The  Blessed  Damozel;  only  some  fifty  lines  of  the 
original  draft  are  retained.     The  sonnet   Retro  me  Sathana 


Io8  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

must  belong  to  1847,  being  intended  to  pair  with  his  picture 
of  the  same  name  ;  and  the  trio  of  sonnets  named  The  Choice 
appertain  to  the  same  year,  or  perhaps  to  an  early  date  in 
1848.  This  trio  is  important,  as  indicating  Rossetti's  youthful 
conception  of  life  as  a  moral  discipline  and  problem.  He 
propounds  three  theories — 1,  Eat  thou  and  drink,  to-morrow 
thou  shalt  die  ;  2,  Watch  thou  and  pray  ;  3,  Think  thou  and 
act.  Each  sonnet  exhibits  its  own  theme,  without  any  direct 
reference  to  the  themes  of  the  other  two.  It  is  manifest, 
however,  that  Rossetti  intends  us  to  set  aside  the  "  Eat  thou 
and  drink"  theory  of  life,  and  not  to  accept,  without  much 
reservation,  the  "  Watch  thou  and  pray "  theory.  "  Think 
thou  and  act "  is  what  he  abides  by. 

There  was  another  very  early  poem,  begun  perhaps  in 
1846  rather  than  1847,  and  nearly  completed  at  the  time.  It 
then  remained  wholly  neglected,  until,  on  his  deathbed,  my 
brother  took  it  up,  and  supplied  the  finishing  touches.  Its 
final  name  is  Jan  van  Hunks.  For  this  long  ballad-poem 
Rossetti  found  his  main  subject  (but  by  no  means  all  his 
incidents)  in  a  prose  story,  Henkerzvyssel's  Challenge,  printed 
in  his  old  favourite,  the  Tales  of  Chivalry.  The  ballad  relates 
how  a  Dutchman,  celebrated  for  his  prowess  in  smoking, 
treated  certain  members  of  his  family  with  callous  cruelty, 
and  was  then  challenged  by  the  Devil  in  human  form  to 
engage  in  a  smoking-duel.  Of  course  the  Devil's  capabilities 
at  such  an  exercise  exceeded  even  the  Dutchman's  ;  so  Van 
Hunks,  dying  of  over-smoking,  was  marched  off  to  hell,  where 
his  carcass  was  converted  into  a  pipe  for  the  devil's  accus- 
tomed use.  The  ballad  is  humorously  grim,  treated  with 
great  force  and  no  compromise,  and  is  a  pleasant  piece  of 
unpleasant  reading.  It  is  most  fully  deserving  of  publication  ; 
but  has  not  been  included  in  Rossetti's  Collected  Works, 
because  he  gave  the  MS.  to  his  devoted  friend  Mr.  Theodore 
Watts,  with  whom  alone  now  rests  the  decision  of  presenting 
it  or  not  to  the  public. 

I  may  mention  yet  another  "  copy  of  verses,"  belonging  to 
March   1848.     It  is  named   The  English  Revolution  of  1848, 


STUDENT-LIFE— SKETCHING,  READING,  AND  WRITING.    109 

and  ridicules  the  street-spoutings  of  Chartists  and  others  in 
that  year  of  vast  continental  upheavals.  It  is  more  than 
tolerably  good  in  its  burlesque  way,  but  is  not  likely  to  be 
published.  My  brother  had  some  feeling  for  political  ideals 
and  great  movements,  but  none,  except  one  of  annoyance 
and  disdain,  for  noise  and  bluster.  It  may  well  be  that  he 
did  not  always  appreciate  correctly  the  distinction  between 
the  noise  and  the  ideals. 

A  small  incident,  of  literary  and  artistic  bearing,  proved 
to  be  hardly  less  important  in  Rossetti's  career  than  the 
composition  of  an  original  poem.  He  was  already  a  hearty 
admirer  of  William  Blake's  Songs  of  Innocence  and  Experience. 
One  day,  while  attending  at  the  British  Museum  Reading- 
room  on  one  of  his  ordinary  errands,  he  received,  from  an 
attendant  named  Palmer,  the  offer  of  a  MS.  book  by  Blake, 
crammed  with  prose  and  verse,  and  with  designs.  This  was 
in  April  1847.  The  price  asked  was  ten  shillings.  Dante's 
pockets  were  in  their  normal  state  of  depletion,  so  he  applied 
to  me,  urging  that  so  brilliant  an  opportunity  should  not  be 
let  slip,  and  I  produced  the  required  coin.  He  then  proceeded 
to  copy  out,  across  a  confused  tangle  of  false  starts,  alternative 
forms,  and  cancellings,  all  the  poetry  in  the  book,  and  I  did 
the  like  for  the  prose.  His  ownership  of  this  truly  precious 
volume  certainly  stimulated  in  some  degree  his  disregard  or 
scorn  of  some  aspects  of  art  held  in  reverence  by  dilettanti 
and  routine-students,  and  thus  conduced  to  the  Praeraphaelite 
movement ;  for  he  found  here  the  most  outspoken  (and  no 
doubt,  in  a  sense,  the  most  irrational)  epigrams  and  jeers 
against  such  painters  as  Correggio,  Titian,  Rubens,  Rembrandt, 
Reynolds,  and  Gainsborough— any  men  whom  Blake  regarded 
as  fulsomely  florid,  or  lax,  or  swamping  ideas  in  mere 
manipulation.  These  were  balsam  to  Rossetti's  soul,  and 
grist  to  his  mill.  The  volume  was  moreover  the  origin  of  all 
his  after-concern  in  Blake  literature  ;  as  Alexander  Gilchrist, 
when  preparing  the  Life  of  Blake  published  in  1863,  got  to 
hear  of  the  MS.  book,  which  my  brother  then  entrusted  to 
him,  and,  after  Gilchrist's  premature  death,  Rossetti  did  a 


110  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

good  deal  towards  completing  certain  parts  of  the  biography, 
and  in  especial  edited  all  the  poems  introduced  into  the 
second  Section.  He  again  did  something  for  the  re-edition 
dated  1880.  At  the  sale  of  my  brother's  library  and  effects 
the  Blake  MS.  sold  for  ;£iio.  $s.,  so  that  the  venture  of  ten 
shillings  turned  out  a  pretty  good  investment. 


XI. 

FRIENDS    TOWARDS    1847 

BESIDES  the  families  which  I  have  already  mentioned — Dr. 
Heimann  and  his  wife,  a  very  pretty  pleasant  young  English 
Jewess,  whose  maiden  name  was  Amelia  Barnard,  and  the 
American  Doughtys — Dante  Rossetti  knew,  as  he  grew  up 
towards  manhood,  two  persons  more  particularly,  of  whom  I 
ought  here  to  give  some  account.  They  were  Major  Calder 
Campbell  and  Mr.  William  Bell  Scott. 

To  Major  Campbell  Rossetti  was,  I  think,  introduced  by 
an  affectionate  friend,  a  year  or  two  older  than  himself,  the 
sculptor  Alexander  Munro — an  Inverness  man  who  had  come 
to  London  under  the  patronage  of  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of 
Sutherland,  and  who,  being  ingenuous  and  agreeable  in 
manner,  and  of  graceful  gift  as  a  sculptor,  made  some  way 
both  in  society  and  in  art.  He  died  abroad  towards  the 
beginning  of  1871.  Calder  Campbell  was  a  retired  officer 
from  the  Indian  army,  a  bachelor  turned  of  fifty.  He  took 
to  my  brother  most  heartily ;  was  a  firm  believer  in  his 
future,  and  watched  with  the  kindliest  interest  his  actual 
stage  of  development.  He  was  the  author  of  a  large  number 
of  verses,  tales,  and  sketches,  in  Annuals  and  other  fleeting 
forms  of  publication,  and  from  time  to  time  produced  a 
volume  as  well.  To  pretend  that  he  was  an  author  of  high 
mark,  or  capable  of  something  greatly  better  than  what  he 
gave  forth,  would  be  futile  ;  but  he  was  a  lively  writer  in  a 
minor  way,  an  amusing  chatty  talker,  who  had  seen  many 
things  here  and  there,  and  knew  something  of  the  publishing 


FRIENDS   TOWARDS    1 847.  Ill 

world,  and  a  straightforward,  most  unassuming  gentleman, 
whose  society  could  do  nothing  but  good  to  a  youth  like 
Rossetti.  For  a  couple  of  years  or  so  my  brother  and  I 
used  to  pass  an  evening  weekly  at  his  lodgings  in  University 
Street,  Tottenham  Court  Road.  Tea,  literature,  and  a  spice 
of  bantering  scandal,  were  the  ingredients  for  a  light-hearted 
and  not  unimproving  colloquy.  Mostly  no  one  else  was 
present.  On  one  occasion — to  please  Dante  Rossetti,  who 
took  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  a  rather  eccentric  but  certainly 
able  volume  of  poems  entitled  Studies  of  Sensation  and  Event 
— Major  Campbell  secured  the  attendance  of  its  author, 
Ebenezer  Jones.  He  was  a  well-grown,  thin,  pale  man,  still 
young,  with  decayed  teeth  and  a  general  air  of  shaky  health, 
which  brought  him  to  his  grave  before  many  years  had 
passed.  He  seemed  pleased  in  a  way,  but  without  any  ease 
of  manner  or  flow  of  spirits.  We  never  saw  him  again. 
Dante  did  not,  however,  lose  his  interest  in  Ebenezer  Jones. 
As  late  as  February  1870  he  made  some  emphatic  observa- 
tions upon  this  poet  in  Notes  and  Queries  ;  and  his  remarks 
led  ultimately  to  a  re-publication  of  the  Studies,  and  to  a 
good  deal  of  printed  matter  about  Jones  in  the  Athenceum. 

Rossetti  was  quite  inclined  now  to  make  a  little  way  in 
the  literary  world,  if  he  could  find  an  opening.  Major  Camp- 
bell was  more  than  willing  to  assist  him,  and  he  showed 
My  Sister's  Sleep  to  the  editress  of  the  Belle  Assemblee,  a 
philandering  magazine  which  had  seen  better  days.  The 
editress  expressed  great  admiration  of  the  poem,  but  did  not 
publish  it.  Perhaps  payment  was  wanted,  and  funds  were  at 
a  low  ebb.  This  may  have  been  before  the  year  1848  was  far 
advanced.  I  cannot  recollect  that  my  brother  made  any 
further  endeavour  for  publication.  Pretty  soon  The  Germ 
was  projected,  and  was  to  be  the  medium  for  introducing  to 
the  public  the  writings  of  himself  and  others. 

Mr.  Bell  Scott  has  narrated  {Autobiographical  Notes)  the 
origin  of  his  acquaintance  with  Dante  Rossetti.  On 
25  November  1847  the  latter  took  the  first  step  by  sending 
to    Mr.    Scott,  then  Master   of  the   Government   School   of 


112  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Design  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  a  letter  of  which  the  Autobio- 
graphist  gives  an  abstract.     I  condense  still  further. 

"A  few  years  ago,"  said  Rossetti,  "I  met  for  the  first  time,  in 
a  publication  called  The  Story-teller,  with  your  two  poems,  Rosabell 
and  A  Dream  of  Love.  So  beautiful,  so  original,  did  they  appear 
to  me,  that  I  assure  you  I  could  think  of  little  else  for  several  days ; 
and  I  became  possessed  by  quite  a  troublesome  anxiety  to  know 
what  else  you  had  written,  and  where  it  was  to  be  found.  Seeing 
that  the  two  poems  were  extracted  from  The  Monthly  Repository,  I 
went  to  the  Museum,  where  I  found  a  set  of  that  magazine,  but  met 
only  with  a  paper  on  Art.  ...  At  the  beginning  of  the  present  year 
I  fell  in  with  a  most  inadequate  paragraph,  in  the  Art-Union  Journal, 
which  informed  me  of  the  publication  of  The  Year  of  the  World. 
I  was  about  to  bid  you  imagine  my  delight,  but  that  would  not  be 
easy.  I  rushed  from  my  friend's  house  where  I  had  seen  the 
announcement  (for  the  wretched  thing  was  no  more),  and,  having 
got  the  book,  fell  upon  it  like  a  vulture.  You  may  be  pretty  certain 
that  you  had  in  me  one  of  those  readers  who  read  the  volume  at 
a  single  sitting.  A  finer,  a  more  dignitous,1  a  more  deeply  thoughtful 
production,  a  work  that  is  more  truly  a  work,  has  seldom  indeed 
shed  its  light  upon  me.     To  me  I  can  truly  say  that  it  revealed 

'  Some  depth  unknown,  some  inner  life  unlived.' " 

This  is  the  first  line  of  The  Year  of  the  World. — Rossetti 
proceeded  to  say  that  he  was  aware  of  the  existence  of 
another  poem  by  Scott  named  Hades  or  the  Transit ;  and, 
being  unable  to  light  upon  this  or  other  works  by  the  same 
author,  he  ventured  to  enquire  at  headquarters. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  readers  of  the  present  day 
know  very  much  about  Mr.  Scott's  poems.  I  will  therefore 
say  a  few  words  about  Rosabell  and  The  Year  of  the  World. 
Rosabell — afterwards  reissued  under  the  name  of  Mary  Anne — 
is  a  poem,  in  irregular  form  and  various  metres,  about  an 
innocent  country-girl  who  becomes  a  gentleman's  mistress, 

1  So  in  Mr.  Scott's  book.  My  brother  was  not  fond  of  such  strained  or 
affected  words,  and  was  much  more  likely  to  write  "  dignified."  Still  I 
suppose  that  the  printed  word  is  correct,  and  that  he  was  misled  for  a 
moment  by  the  analogy  of  the  Italian  adjective  dignitoso. 


FRIENDS  TOWARDS    1 847.  113 

and  finally  sinks  into  the  lowest  depths  of  shame  and  destitu- 
tion. Though  deficient  in  some  executive  respects,  it  reads 
an  impressive  lesson  in  impressive  and  poignant  terms,  and 
deserves  to  live.  The  Year  of  the  World  is  a  much  longer 
poem  in  blank  verse.  The  subject  extends  (to  use  the 
author's  own  words)  (<  from  the  golden  age  of  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  the  period  of  instinct  and  innocence,  to  the  end  of 
the  race,  when,  all  the  adverse  powers  of  Nature  subjugated, 
Man  will  have  attained  a  happy  and  quiescent  immortality." 
I  have  read  this  ambitious  and  remarkable  poem  several  times, 
but  not  of  late  years.  I  will,  however,  undertake  to  say  that 
it  contains  a  large  amount  of  strong  thought  mixed  with  ideal 
aspiration  ;  that  it  comprises  many  lines  of  true  poetry,  and 
many  passages  of  majestic  scope  ;  and  that,  if  a  reading 
public  who  do  not  greatly  want  such  productions  would  con- 
sent to  read  the  work,  they  would  find  in  it  much  to  reward 
their  pains,  and  to  uphold  the  claims  of  its  author  as  a  poet 
of  a  high  standard,  and  of  some  veritable  though  not  uniformly 
realized  attainment.  I  do  not  coincide  with  some  critics  of 
the  present  day  (and  of  past  days  as  well)  who  hold  that 
Scott's  executive  touch  is  so  uncertain,  and  the  instances 
where  he  falls  short  of  his  aim  so  numerous,  as  to  disentitle 
him  altogether  to  the  name  of  poet.  On  the  contrary,  I  can 
and  do  still  admire  his  work  to  a  large  extent,  although  far 
from  unconscious  of  its  too  frequently  obvious,  and  sometimes 
almost  unaccountable,  blemishes. 

Mr.  Scott,  now  aged  thirty-six,  naturally  had  not  the  least 
idea  who  "  Gabriel  Charles  Rossetti  "  might  be,  beyond  what 
appeared  in  his  letter  as  to  his  being  a  student  of  painting, 
etc.  He  made  some  sort  of  reply,  and  soon  received  a  further 
letter  enclosing  a  number  of  verse  MSS.,  which  included 
The  Blessed  Damozel,  My  Sister's  Sleep,  and  (as  Scott 
expresses  it)  "  many  other  admirable  poems,  marshalled 
under  the  title  of  Songs  of  the  Art  Catholic!'  I  hardly  think 
that  my  brother  had  by  this  date  completed  "  many  "  poems, 
unless  translations  are  to  be  reckoned  in.  There  may  easily, 
however,  have  been  a  round  half  dozen  of  original  composi- 
vol.  I.  8 


114  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

tions,  comprising,  in  all  probability,  Ave — also  the  beginnings 
of  some  others,  such  as  The  Bride's  Prelude  (which  at  this 
time  was  called  Bride-Chamber  Talk).  My  brother's  general 
title  of  Songs  of  the  Art  Catholic  is  worth  a  moment's 
attention.  By  "  Art "  he  decidedly  meant  something  more 
than  "poetic  art."  He  meant  to  suggest  that  the  poems 
embodied  conceptions  and  a  point  of  view  related  to  pictorial 
art — also  that  this  art  was,  in  sentiment  though  not  neces- 
sarily in  dogma,  Catholic — mediaeval  and  un-modern.  He 
never  was,  and  never  affected  to  be,  a  Roman-catholic,  nor 
yet  an  Anglican-catholic.  All  the  then  excited  debates 
concerning  "  Puseyism,"  Tractarianism,  and  afterwards  Ritual- 
ism, passed  by  him  like  the  idle  wind.  If  he  knew  anything 
about  "the  Gorham  Controversy,"  it  was  only  that  Carlyle 
coupled  "  prevenient  grace  "  with  "  supervenient  moonshine." 
Indeed,  by  this  date — so  far  as  opinion  went,  which  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  sentiment  and  traditional  bias — he  was 
already  a  decided  sceptic.  He  was  never  confirmed,  professed 
no  religious  faith,  and  practised  no  regular  religious  observ- 
ances ;  but  he  had  (more  especially  two  or  three  years  after 
this)  sufficient  sympathy  with  the  abstraqt  ideas  and  the 
venerable  forms  of  Christianity  to  go  occasionally  to  an 
Anglican  church — very  occasionally,  and  only  as  the  inclina- 
tion ruled  him. 

Not  long  after  this  letter-writing  (I  have  already  expressed 
the  opinion  that  it  was  about  the  new  year  of  1848)  Mr. 
Scott  called  in  50  Charlotte  Street,  and  saw  Dante  and  other 
members  of  the  family.  I  well  remember  his  first  appear- 
ance, in  the  evening.  He  was  then  a  handsome  and  highly 
impressive-looking  man ;  of  good  9tature,  bony  and  well- 
developed  but  rather  thin  frame,  pondering  and  somewhat 
melancholy  air,  and  deliberate  low-toned  utterance.  His 
hair  (which  he  lost  entirely  some  years  afterwards)  was 
blackish,  and  of  free  abundant  growth,  his  eyebrows  bushy, 
his  eyes  of  a  very  pale  clear  blue.  This  hue  must  have  been 
too  cold  and  steely  for  a  southern  sympathy ;  for,  when  he 
and  I  were  travelling  in  Italy  in  1862,  a  Pisan  female  fellow- 


MADOX   BROWN,   HOLMAN    HUNT,   MILLAIS.  1 1 5 

traveller  felt  disconcerted  under  its  influence,  and  whispered 
to  me  that  he  certainly  had  "  the  evil  eye."  We  in  Charlotte 
Street  did  not  think  so,  but  took  very  warmly  indeed  to  Mr. 
Scott,  and  found  him  not  only  attractive  but  even  fascinating. 
Some  time  after  he  had  written  to  Mr.  Scott — it  seems  to 
have  been  in  the  summer  of  1850 — Dante  Rossetti  wrote 
likewise  to  Robert  Browning.  In  the  British  Museum  he 
had  come  across  an  anonymous  poem  entitled  Pauline.  He 
admired  it  much,  and  copied  out  every  line  of  it.  He  ob- 
served one  or  two  verses  which  he  already  knew  in  Browning's 
avowed  poems.  From  this  circumstance,  and  from  general 
internal  evidence,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  author 
of  Pauline  could  be  no  other  than  Browning,  and  he  wrote  to 
the  poet  at  a  venture  to  enquire  whether  his  inference  was 
correct.  Browning  was  at  that  time  in  Venice.  He  replied 
in  the  affirmative  ;  and,  being  two  years  afterwards  back  in 
London,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Rossetti,  who  called 
upon  him  companioned  by  the  poet  William  Allingham. 

XII. 

MADOX  BROWN,    HOLMAN  HUNT,    MILLAIS. 

A  CERTAIN  day  in  March  1 848 — I  don't  know  which  day — 
formed  one  of  the  most  important  landmarks  in  the  career 
of  Dante  Rossetti.  It  was  on  that  day  that  he  wrote  to 
Mr.  Ford  Madox  Brown,  personally  quite  unknown  to  him, 
asking  whether  he  could  become  Brown's  pupil  in  the  practical 
work  of  painting.  He  thus  commenced  the  most  intimate 
friendship  of  his  life;  and  the  letter  led  on  to  his  familiar 
companionship  with  Holman  Hunt,  and  hence  to  the  Prsera- 
phaelite  movement,  and  all  subsequent  developments  of  his  art. 
It  may  be  questioned — Why  did  Rossetti  look  out  for 
private  instruction  in  painting,  when  he  might,  with  moderate 
exertion,  have  advanced  from  the  Antique  School  of  the 
Royal  Academy  to  the  Life  School  and  the  Painting  School, 
and  might,  in  the  last-named  section,  have  obtained,  from 


Il6  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

accredited  painters,  all  the  training  that  he  could  want  ?  My 
recollections  on  this  point  do  not  supply  me  with  any  very 
precise  information.  Some  data  are  however  clear  enough 
to  me.  Few  young  men  were  more  impetuous  or  more 
impatient  than  my  brother,  or  more  ambitious  to  boot.  He 
had  now  been  an  art-student  for  nearly  six  years,  and  he 
wanted  to  be  a  student  no  longer,  but  a  practising  painter, 
testing  by  actual  performance  the  faculty  that  was  within 
him,  and  the  recognition  which  the  public  might  be  willing 
or  compelled  to  accord  thereto.  His  study  in  the  Academy's 
Antique  School  had  not  yet  lasted  two  years.  Fully  as  much 
might  still  be  needed  before  he  would  get  into  the  Painting 
School,  and,  when  there,  he  might  find  little  to  respect  in 
his  instructors  (for  he  had  no  belief  in  an  R.A.,  merely  as 
such),  and  little  furtherance  in  that  particular  line  of  work 
which  attracted  him.  He  had  plenty  of  ideas.  What  he 
needed  was  such  an  immediate  knowledge  of  brush-work  as 
would  enable  him  to  cover  a  canvas.  I  do  not  say — to  cover 
it  well  or  ill ;  for  the  idea  of  doing  the  thing  ill  would  at  this 
time,  as  at  all  others,  have  been  most  repugnant  to  him.  He 
wanted  to  cover  the  canvas,  and  to  do  it  as  well  as  his 
utmost  endeavour  would  permit.  These  considerations  were 
amply  sufficient  to  impel  him  to  look  out  for  a  prompt 
training  in  painting  elsewhere  than  by  the  graduated  processes 
of  the  Royal  Academy.  As  he  was  not  yet  twenty  years 
of  age,  it  could  not  be  held  that  he  was  at  all  belated,  if  only 
now  he  could  make  a  real  beginning. 

The  letter  to  Mr.  Brown  is  so  important  from  all  points  of 
view  that  I  think  well  to  transcribe  it  here  verbatim. 

"March  1848. 
"50  Charlotte  Street,  Portland  Place. 

«  Sir,— 

"lama  student  in  the  Antique  School  of  the  Royal  Academy. 
Since  the  first  time  I  ever  went  to  an  exhibition  (which  was  several 
years  ago,  and  when  I  saw  a  picture  of  yours  from  Byron's  Giaour) 
I  have  always  listened  with  avidity  if  your  name  happened  to  be 
mentioned,  and  rushed  first  of  all  to  your  number  in  the  Catalogue. 


MADOX   BROWN,   HOLMAN    HUNT,   MILLAIS.  WJ 

The  Parisina,  the  Study  in  the  Manner  of  the  Early  Masters,  Our 
Lady  of  Saturday-night,  and  the  other  glorious  works  you  have 
exhibited,  have  successively  raised  my  admiration,  and  kept  me 
standing  on  the  same  spot  for  fabulous  lengths  of  time.  The 
outline  from  your  Abstract  Representatation  of  Justice  which  appeared 
in  one  of  the  Illustrated  Papers  constitutes,  together  with  an  en- 
graving after  that  great  painter  Von  Hoist,1  the  sole  pictorial 
adornment  of  my  room  [this  was  a  room,  originally  our  father's 
dressing-room,  quite  at  the  top  of  the  house  50  Charlotte  Street. 
Small  and  bare  and  uncared-for  it  was,  but  how  many  hours,  which 
in  retrospect  seem  glorious  hours,  have  I  not  passed  in  it  with  my 
brother !  how  many  books  have  we  not  read  to  one  another, 
how  many  bouts-rimes  sonnets  have  we  not  written,  over  its  scanty 
fireplace  !].  And,  as  for  the  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  if  ever  I  do 
anything  in  the  art,  it  will  certainly  be  attributable  in  a  great  degree 
to  the  constant  study  of  that  work  [this  was  a  very  large  painting, 
The  Execution  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  now  in  the  possession  of 
Mr.  Boddington.  My  brother  had  seen  it  in  the  Pantheon  Bazaar, 
where  it  hung  for  years  rather  than  months]. 

"  It  is  not  therefore  to  be  wondered  at  if,  wishing  to  obtain  some 
knowledge  of  colour  (which  I  have  as  yet  scarcely  attempted),  the 
hope  suggests  itself  that  you  may  possibly  admit  pupils  to  profit  by 
your  invaluable  assistance.  If,  such  being  the  case,  you  would  do 
me  the  honour  to  inform  me  what  your  terms  would  be  for  six 
months'  instruction,  I  feel  convinced  that  I  should  then  have  some 
chance  in  the  Art. 

"  I  remain,  Sir,  very  truly  yours, 

"Gabriel  C.  Rossetti." 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that,  apart  from  his  allusion 
to  a  print  of  the  Justice,  my  brother  did  not  here  refer  to 
Madox  Brown's  three  Cartoons  in  Westminster  Hall — works 
which  he  assuredly  and  very  rightly  admired  as  much  at 
least  as  any  of  the  paintings  specified,  and  more  than  most 

1  Von  Hoist  is  not  much  remembered  now.  He  was  an  Anglo-German 
painter,  greatly  addicted  to  supernatural  subjects,  which  he  treated  with 
imaginative  impulse  and  considerable  pictorial  skill — Lord  Lyttelton  and 
the  Ghost,  Faust  and  Mephistopheles  in  the  Wine-cellar,  The  Death  of 
Lady  Macbeth,  etc,     He  died  towards  1850,  in  early  middle  age. 


Il8  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI 

of  them.  Apparently  he  dwelt  on  paintings  alone,  because 
his  immediate  object  was  to  obtain  guidance  in  the  use  of 
colour. 

Mr.  Brown,  born  on  16  April  1821,  was  close  upon  twenty- 
seven  years  of  age  when  he  received  this  letter,  or  about  seven 
years  older  than  Rossetti.  He  was  a  vigorous-looking  young 
man,  with  a  face  full  of  insight  and  purpose ;  thick  straight 
brown  hair,  fair  skin,  well-coloured  visage,  blueish  eyes,  broad 
brow,  square  and  rather  high  shoulders,  slow  and  distinct 
articulation.  His  face  was  good-looking  as  well  as  fine ;  but 
less  decidedly  handsome,  I  think,  than  it  became  towards  the 
age  of  forty.  As  an  old  man — he  died  on  6  October  1893 — 
he  had  a  grand  patriarchal  aspect  ;  his  hair,  of  a  pure  white, 
being  fully  as  abundant  as  when  first  I  knew  him,  sup- 
plemented now  by  a  long  beard.  Born  in  Calais  of  English 
parents,  and  brought  up  chiefly  abroad,  he  was  the  sort  of 
man  who  had  no  idea  of  being  twitted  without  exacting  the 
reason  why.  Such  profuse  praise  as  he  now  received  from 
his  unknown  correspondent  was  what  fortune  had  not  accus- 
tomed him  to,  and  he  suspected  that  some  ill-advised  person 
was  trying  to  make  game  of  him.  From  his  studio  in  Clip- 
stone  Street,  very  near  Charlotte  Street,  he  sallied  forth  with 
a  stout  stick  in  his  hand.  Knocking  at  No.  50,  he  would  not 
give  his  name,  nor  proceed  further  than  the  passage.  When 
Dante  came  down,  Brown's  enquiry  was,  "Is  your  name 
Rossetti,  and  is  this  your  writing  ?  "  An  affirmative  being 
returned,  the  next  question  was,  "  What  do  you  mean  by  it  ?  " 
to  which  Rossetti  rationally  replied  that  he  meant  what  he 
had  written.  Brown  now  perceived  that  after  all  the  whole 
affair  was  bona  fide  ;  and  (as  the  Family-letters  show)  he  not 
only  consented  to  put  his  neophyte  in  the  right  path  of  paint- 
ing, but  would  entertain  no  offer  of  payment,  and  made 
Rossetti  his  friend  on  the  spot — a  friend  for  that  day,  in  the 
spring  of  1848,  and  a  friend  for  life. 

For  these  details  I  have  relied  chiefly  on  the  book  of  Mr. 
Bell  Scott,  who  relates  the  interview  in  the  words  (such  they 
purport  to  be)  of  Rossetti  himself  in  conversation  with  Scott. 


MADOX   BROWN,   HOLMAN   HUNT,   MILLAIS.  119 

Mr.  Stephens  gives  a  similar  though  briefer  narrative,  on  the 
authority  of  Brown's  anecdotic  discourse,  which  was  often 
of  a  very  amusing  kind,  and  replete  with  minute  particulars. 
For  truth's  sake  I  will  say  that  I  cannot  remember  having 
ever  heard  either  Brown  or  my  brother  refer  to  these  minor 
incidents  of  the  stout  stick,  etc. ;  but  I  am  bound  to  believe 
Mr.  Scott  and  Mr.  Stephens,  and  I  do  believe  them. 

After  paying  a  visit  or  two  to  the  studio  of  Madox  Brown 
— who  was  then  engaged  on  his  important  picture  of  Wiclif 
and  John  of  Gaunt  (or  possibly  it  was  Cordelia  watching  the 
bedside  of  Lear) — Rossetti  was  informed  by  his  instructor  that 
he  should  set-to  at  copying  a  picture,  and  at  painting  some 
still-life — pickle-jars  or  bottles.  According  to  Mr.  Holman 
Hunt,  he  copied  the  picture  (I  have  not  the  least  recollection 
of  what  it  was),  but  his  aspiring  soul  chafed  sorely  against 
the  pickle-jars.  This,  however  reasonably  enjoined  by  Mr. 
Brown,  was  the  very  sort  of  drudgery  which,  in  applying  to 
him,  Rossetti  had  hoped  to  avoid.  The  pickle-jars  were 
nevertheless  painted.  The  study  remained  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Madox  Brown,  and,  at  the  sale  which  was  held  at  his  house 
in  May  1894,  it  turned  up,  and  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Herbert 
H.  Gilchrist.  My  brother  made  also  many  original  drawings 
or  slight  paintings  under  Brown's  eye.  These  I  no  longer 
remember  ;  but  I  have  lately  seen  one,  which  is  said  to  be 
the  first  of  all,  and  which  was  presented  by  Brown,  only  a  few 
days  before  his  death,  to  the  young  lady  who  is  now  Mrs. 
Ford  M.  Hueffer.  It  is  a  drawing  of  long  narrow  shape,  in 
body-colour  barely  a  little  tinted,  with  a  plain  gilt  ground  ; 
and  represents  a  young  woman,  auburn-haired,  standing  with 
joined  hands.  The  face  seems  to  be  a  reminiscence  of 
Christina,  but  the  nose  is  unduly  long  ;  the  drapery  is  deli- 
cately felt  and  done,  and  the  whole  thing  has  a  forecast  of  the 
"  Prseraphaelite "  manner.  Without  being  exactly  good,  the 
work  shows  distinct  promise  for  a  youth,  almost  a  novice 
at  handling  the  brush. 

From  the  pickle-jars  ensued  the  second  stage  in  this 
pictorial  progress,  and  the  beginning  of  my  brother's  close 


120  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

intimacy   with    Hunt,   who   was   about  thirteen  months   his 
senior.      Just   towards    the   date   when    Dante   was    getting 
adequately,  or  more  than  adequately,  disgusted  with  his  still- 
life  probation,  the  annual  Exhibition  of  the  Royal  Academy 
opened  at  the  commencement  of  May.     He  saw  there  Hunt's 
picture — an  uncommonly  fine  one  for  so  youthful  a  painter — 
of  Tlie  Eve  of  St.  Agnes  (escape  of  Madeline  and  Porphyro 
from  the  castle).    He  "  came  up  boisterously  "  (says  Mr.  Hunt), 
"  and  in  loud  tongue  made  me  feel  very  confused  by  declaring 
that  mine  was  the  best  picture  of  the  year."     It  seems  that 
the  like  had  occurred  in   1847,  when  Hunt's  exhibited  picture 
was  from  Walter  Scott's  Woodstock.     "  Rossetti  frankly  asked 
me  to  let  him  call  upon  me."     When  he  did  call,1  he  bewailed 
the  pickle-jars  or  bottles,  and  sounded  Hunt  as  to  whether 
he   need  do  any  more  of  them.     Hunt,  without  detracting 
from  the  general  correctness  of  Brown's  scheme  of  training, 
opined   that    Rossetti    might   permit   himself   to    select    for 
painting  some  composition  of  his  own,  and  might  begin  on 
the  canvas  with  the  still-life  proper  to  such  a  composition  ; 
and  then  this  accessory  part  of  the  subject  would  no  longer 
be  repulsive,  for  it  would  be  the  mere  adjunct  or  preparation 
for  the  interesting  part.     No  advice  could  possibly  have  been 
more  reasonable,  considering  on  the  one  hand  the  tempera- 
ment and  aspirations  of  Rossetti,  and  on  the  other  his  great 
inexperience  in  the  use  of  pigment.     Mr.  Hunt  recommended 
that  he  should  at  once  select  for  his  picture  a  design  recently 
contributed  to  a  Sketching  Society,  and  approved  by  Millais. 
This    design    must   have    been   either   La   Belle   Dame  sans 
Merci,  from  Keats,  or  the  scene  of  GretcJien  in  Church,  from 
Faust ;  in  all  probability  the  latter.     The  Belle  Dame  seems 

1  Mr.  Hunt  says  that  the  encounter  at  the  Academy  exhibition  was  on 
the  opening  day  (first  Monday  in  May),  and  the  visit  to  his  studio  "in  a 
few  days  more."  Considering  the  date  when  the  Gretchen  design  (men- 
tioned by  me  in  this  context)  was  sent  round  and  criticized,  July  1848,  and 
the  date,  20  August,  when  Rossetti  was  finally  settled  with  Hunt  in  a 
studio,  I  incline  to  think  that  the  visit  in  question  must  have  been  about 
a  couple  of  months  later  than  the  writer  puts  it. 


MADOX   BROWN,   HOLMAN   HUNT,   MILLAIS.  121 

to  have  passed  out  of  observation,  though  1  suppose  not  out  of 
existence.  At  any  rate,  the  Gretchen  exists,  and  was  exhibited 
in  1883  in  the  Burlington  Club  collection  of  my  brother's 
works. 

A  word  or  two  must  be  given  to  the  Sketching  Society 
here  in  question.  It  was  termed  the  Cyclographic  Society. 
Each  member  produced  a  design,  and  sent  it  round  to  col- 
leagues in  a  portfolio,  to  be  inspected  and  criticized.  The 
members,  besides  Millais  and  Rossetti,  were  Hunt,  John  ■ 
Hancock  the  sculptor,  William  Dennis,  N.  E.  Green,  J.  T. 
Clifton,  Walter  Howell  Deverell,  J.  B.  Keene,  T.  Watkins, 
James  Collinson,  Richard  Burchett,  F.  G.  Stephens,  Thomas 
Woolner,  and  J.  A.  Vinter.  As  Sir  John  Millais's  criticism 
on  the  Gretchen  is  interesting  on  every  ground,  and  especially 
in  this  connexion,  I  give  it  here  : — 

"A  very  clever  and  original  design,  beautifully  executed.  The 
figures  which  deserve  the  greatest  attention  are  the  four  figures 
praying  to  the  left.  The  young  girl's  face  is  very  pretty,  but  the 
head  is  too  large ;  the  other  three  are  full  of  piety.  The  Devil  is 
in  my  opinion  a  mistake ;  his  head  wants  drawing,  and  the  horns 
through  the  cowl  are  commonplace,  and  therefore  objectionable. 
The  right  arm  of  Margaret  should  have  been  shown,  for,  by  hiding 
the  Devil's  right  hand  (which  is  not  sufficiently  prominent),  you 
are  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  is  tearing  her  to  pieces  for  a 
meal.  The  drawing  and  composition  of  Margaret  are  original,  and 
expressive  of  utter  prostration.  The  greatest  objection  is  the  figure 
with  his  back  towards  you,  who  is  unaccountably  short ;  the  pleasing 
group  of  lovers  should  have  occupied  his  place.  The  girl  and  child 
in  the  foreground  are  exquisite  in  feeling,  the  flaming  sword  well 
introduced  and  highly  emblematic  of  the  subject,  which  is  well 
chosen,  and,  with  a  few  alterations  in  its  treatment,  should  be 
painted.     Chairs  out  of  perspective." 

I  can  easily  believe  this  last  item  ;  for  Rossetti  never  paid 
any  attention,  worth  speaking  of,  to  perspective,  and  indeed 
—  so  far  as  his  own  interest  in  matters  of  art  was  concerned — 
was  at  all  times  almost  indifferent  to  the  question  whether 


122  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

his  works  were  in  perspective  or  out  of  it.  Mr.  Stephens 
did  something  to  arrange  the  perspective  of  Rossetti's  picture 
(1849-50)  of  The  Annunciation,  now  in  the  National  Gallery, 
and  in  1850  gave  him  a  few  lessons — and  would  not  have 
minded  giving  many  more — in  this  bugbear  science.  The 
reader  will  not  fail  to  note  the  thoroughly  practical  and  well- 
balanced  tone  of  Millais's  remarks  in  all  other  respects.  The 
Cyclographic  Society  did  not  last  long,  as  may  be  gathered 
from  Rossetti's  letter  of  30  August  1848.  I  think  the  more 
progressive  artists  among  its  members  got  tired  of  association 
with  some  others,  and  hastened  its  dissolution.  I  can  remember 
attending  one  or  two  meetings  of  the  Society  ;  though  why  I 
was  admitted — unless  it  be  that  Dante  sic  voluit,  sicjussit — 
I  fail  to  see. 

At  the  interview  of  which  I  have  been  speaking  Rossetti 
(according  to  Holman  Hunt)  gave  the  latter  to  understand 
that,  being  oppressed  by  the  pickle-jars,  he  had  written  to 
Leigh  Hunt  (whom  he  did  not  know),  submitting  some  of 
his  poems,  original  and  translated,  for  courteous  perusal, 
and  asking  whether  it  might  seem  feasible  for  him  to 
trust  to  literature  rather  than  fine  art  as  a  profession. 
A  copy  of  Leigh  Hunt's  letter  in  reply  is  still  extant. 
The  date  (it  will  be  perceived)  is  31  March,  and  it  was 
written  "  at  length " — i.e.,  some  good  while  after  he  had 
received  the  poems.  Rossetti's  letter  to  Brown  was  only 
sent  at  some  date  in  March  ;  and,  looking  to  these  dates, 
I  rather  question  whether  his  communication  to  Leigh  Hunt 
could  have  been  consequent  upon  his  affliction  over  the 
pickle-jars.  Here  is  the  veteran  poet's  very  kind  and  con- 
siderate letter  to  a  youth  in  all  ways  totally  unknown  : — 

"Kensington,  March  31,  1848. 
"My  dear  Sir, — 

"  I  have  at  length  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  your  manu- 
scripts, but  am  still  forced  to  be  very  brief.  I  hope  the  agreeableness 
of  my  remarks  will  make  amends  for  their  shortness,  since  you  have 
been  good  enough  to  constitute  me  a  judge  of  powers  of  which  you 
ought  to  have  no  doubt.     I  felt  perplexed,  it  is  true,  at  first,  by 


'•" 


By  D.  G.  Rossctti. 


Gaetano  Polidori. 


tS48. 


MADOX   BROWN,   HOLMAN   HUNT,   MILLAIS.  1 23 

the  translations,  which,  though  containing  evidences  of  a  strong 
feeling  of  the  truth  and  simplicity  of  the  originals,  appeared  to  me 
harsh,  and  want  correctness  in  the  versification.  I  guess  indeed 
that  you  are  altogether  not  so  musical  as  pictorial.  But,  when  I 
came  to  the  originals  of  your  own,  I  recognized  an  unquestionable 
poet,  thoughtful,  imaginative,  and  with  rare  powers  of  expression. 
I  hailed  you  as  such  at  once,  without  any  misgiving ;  and,  besides 
your  Dantesque  heavens  (without  any  hell  to  spoil  them),  admired 
the  complete  and  genial  round  of  your  sympathies  with  humanity. 
I  know  not  what  sort  of  painter  you  are.  If  you  paint  as  well  as 
you  write,  you  may  be  a  rich  man ;  or  at  all  events,  if  you  do  not 
care  to  be  rich,  may  get  leisure  enough  to  cultivate  your  writing. 
But  I  hardly  need  tell  you  that  poetry,  even  the  very  best — nay, 
the  best,  in  this  respect,  is  apt  to  be  the  worst — is  not  a  thing  for 
a  man  to  live  upon  while  he  is  in  the  flesh,  however  immortal  it 
may  render  him  in  spirit. — When  I  have  succeeded  in  finding 
another  house,  I  hope  you  will  give  me  the  pleasure  of  your 
acquaintance :  and  meantime  I  am,  Dear  Sir,  with  hearty  zeal  in 
the  welfare  of  your  genius, 

"Your  obliged  and  faithful  Servant, 

"Leigh  Hunt. 

"  P.S. — You  will  see  some  pencil-marks  at  the  side  of  the  passages 
I  most  admired." 

I  possess  a  portrait  done  by  my  brother  in  pencil  in  June 
1848,  representing  our  grandfather,  head  and  shoulders.  It  is 
excellently  good  ;  and  so  strongly  and  exactly  realistic  as  to 
prove  to  demonstration  that  Rossetti,  a  short  while  before  the 
Prseraphaelite  scheme  began,  required  no  further  prompting 
from  outside  as  to  the  artistic  virtues  inherent  in  a  scrupulous 
fidelity  to  Nature.  Mr.  Brown  had  no  doubt  impressed  this 
upon  him,  if  he  had  not  already  found  it  out  for  himself.  In 
one  way  or  another  he  had  laid  the  lesson  thoroughly  to  heart, 
and  was  more  than  a  mere  apprentice  to  Truth.  My  reader 
can  judge  for  himself  of  this  portrait,  as  it  is  here  reproduced. 

Rossetti  closed  eagerly  with  Holman  Hunt's  suggestion  as 
to  beginning  a  picture,  to  combine  practice  in  still-life  and 
accessory   with   more   palatable  work  ;  and   he   asked  to  be 


124  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

allowed  to  become  joint-tenant  of  a  studio  which  Hunt  was 
about  to  take.  To  this  his  new  friend  acceded  ;  and  nothing; 
surely  could  have  been  more  serviceable  to  my  brother  as  a 
beginner  in  the  painting-art.  The  studio  selected  was  a  back- 
room on  the  first  floor  at  No.  7  (now  46)  Cleveland  Street, 
Fitzroy  Square,  close  to  Howland  Street.  Mr.  Stephens  has 
given  an  amusingly  cheerless  account  of  this  establishment. 
I  will  borrow  a  few  sentences  from  him  ;  though  my  own 
reminiscences  of  the  place,  tinted  as  they  are  by  the  light- 
heartedness  of  youth,  do  not  present  quite  so  gloomy  a 
picture. 

"Dans  un  grenier  qu'on  est  bien  a  vingt  ans !  " 

And  indeed  I  was  not  fully  nineteen  when  my  brother 
entered  upon  his  studio  at  No  7  Cleveland  Street,  his  living 
and  sleeping  rooms  being  still  at  No  50  Charlotte  Street. 

"  It  was  even  then  a  dismal  place,  the  one  big  window  of  which 
looked  to  the  East,  and  through  which,  when  neither  smoke,  fog, 
nor  rain,  obscured  the  unlovely  view,  you  could  see  the  damp 
orange-coloured  piles  of  timber  a  neighbouring  dealer  in  that 
material  had,  within  a  few  yards  of  the  room,  piled  in  monstrous 
heaps  upon  his  backyard.  Nothing  could  be  more  depressing  than 
the  large  gaunt  chamber,  .  .  .  where  the  dingy  walls,  distempered 
of  a  dark  maroon  which  dust  and  smoke  stains  had  deepened, 
added  a  most  undesirable  gloom.  The  approach  to  it  was  by  a 
half-lighted  staircase  up  which  the  fuss  and  clatter  of  a  boys'-school 
kept  by  the  landlord  of  the  house  .  .  .  frequently  arose." 

And  now  we  come  to  the  third  link  in  this  chain  of 
acquaintanceship — namely,  to  Rossetti's  close  fellowship  with 
Millais.  Brown  had  indirectly  led  on  to  Hunt,  and  Hunt  led 
on  directly  to  Millais.  The  latter,  born  in  the  summer  of 
1829,  was  Rossetti's  junior  by  more  than  a  year,  but  vastly  in 
advance  of  him  as  an  artist.  I  need  not  enter  here  upon  the 
early  career  of  this  great  painter  ;  his  quite  singular  promise 
in  mere  boyhood,  his  conspicuous  successes  in  his  first  youth. 
Miliais    was  the  pattern — the   unattainable  pattern — for   all 


THE  PR^RAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD.  125 

Academy-students,  and  was  by  this  date  an  exhibiting 
painter  of  some  performance  and  any  amount  of  promise. 
My  brother  could  not  but  know  him  by  sight  long  before 
now,  and  must  have  exchanged  speech  with  him  more  than 
once  both  at  the  Royal  Academy  and  at  the  Cyclographic 
Society.  With  Millais  however  he  was  not  as  yet  on  a 
footing  of  friendship,  which  Hunt  was.  "  The  companionship 
of  Rossetti  and  myself,"  says  Mr.  Hunt,  "  soon  brought  about 
a  meeting  with  Millais,  at  whose  house  one  night  we  found 
a  book  of  engravings  of  the  frescoes  in  the  Campo  Santo  at 
Pisa."  The  house  was  that  at  which  Millais  lived  with  his 
parents,  No.  83  (now  7)  Gower  street,  having  a  long  rather 
shed-like  studio,  built  out  on  the  ground-floor  along  the  line 
of  a  narrow  turning.  The  juncture  was  a  momentous  one 
for  all  the  three  young  painters. 


XIII. 
THE  PR^RAPHAELITE  BROTHERHOOD. 

Mr.  HOLMAN  Hunt  considers,  and  I  would  be  willing  to 
confirm  his  view  if  it  needed  any  confirmation,  that  it  was 
the  inspection  of  the  Campo  Santo  engravings,  "  at  this 
special  time,  which  caused  the  establishment  of  the  Praera- 
phaelite  Brotherhood."  They  are  not  engravings  doing 
justice  to  the  works  represented — indeed,  Ruskin  has  some- 
where termed  them  "  Lasinio's  execrable  engravings."  But 
they  give  some  idea  of  the  motives,  feeling,  and  treatment, 
of  the  paintings  of  Gozzoli,  and  of  those  ascribed  to  Orcagna 
and  other  mediaeval  masters.  It  seems  that  Rossetti  was  not 
quite  prepared  beforehand  to  believe  in  these  very  olden 
painters,  and  Brown  specially  cautioned  him  not  to  undervalue 
them.  I  well  recollect  the  enthusiasm  with  which,  subse- 
quently to  seeing  the  engravings,  Dante  spoke  to  me  on  the 
subject,  and  soon  afterwards  I  was  allowed  an  opportunity  of 
examining  the  prints  for  myself.  Most  things,  whether  books 
or  ideas,  were  in  common,  at  this  time  and  for  years  after- 


126  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

wards,  between  my  brother  and  myself,  and  whatever  one 
of  us  lighted  upon  was  rapidly  imparted  to  the  other. 
Mr.  Hunt  makes  some  valuable  observations  on  the  direction 
of  mind  which  started  the  Prseraphaelite  idea,  and  on  the 
respective  contributions  which  the  very  diverse  temperaments 
and  gifts  of  its  three  initiators  brought  to  the  common  stock. 
I  will  not  take  the  liberty  of  borrowing  his  remarks  en  bloc ; 
but,  bearing  them  needfully  in  mind,  I  will  say  what  I  can 
on  the  subject  from  my  own  standing-point. 

The  Lasinio  incident  may  be  proper  to  the  month  of 
August  or  of  September  1848,  when  Hunt  was  twenty-one 
years  of  age,  Rossetti  twenty,  and  Millais  nineteen.  They 
had  thus  barely  ceased  to  be  big  boys  ;  but  Hunt  and  Millais 
were  already  very  capable  and  recognized  painters,  and 
all  three  were  enthusiasts— enthusiasts  with  a  difference. 
Millais  perceived  within  himself  powers  which  far  exceeded 
those  of  most  of  the  acknowledged  heads  of  his  profession, 
but  which  had  been  exercised  as  yet  without  any  inbreathing 
of  new  and  original  life ;  Hunt  was  not  only  stubbornly 
persistent,  but  eagerly  desirous  of  developing  something  at 
once  solid  and  uncommon  ;  Rossetti,  a  beginner  in  the  art, 
was  fired  with  inventive  imaginings  and  a  love  of  beauty, 
and  was  just  as  anxious  as  his  colleagues  to  distinguish 
himself,  though  as  yet  not  equally  certain  to  do  so.  All  three 
contemned  the  commonplace  anecdotical  subjects  of  most 
British  painters  of  the  day,  and  their  flimsy  pretences  at 
cleverness  of  execution,  unsupported  either  by  clear  intuition 
into  the  facts  of  Nature,  or  by  lofty  or  masculine  style,  or  by 
an  effort  at  sturdy  realization.  There  were  of  course  excep- 
tions, some  distinguished  and  some  noble  exceptions  ;  but 
the  British  School  of  Painting,  as  a  school,  was  in  1848  wishy- 
washy  to  the  last  degree  ;  nothing  imagined  finely,  nor 
descried  keenly,  nor  executed  puissantly.  The  three  young 
men  hated  all  this.  They  hated  the  cant  about  Raphael  and 
the  Great  Masters,  for  utter  cant  it  was  in  the  mouths  of  such 
underlings  of  the  brush  as  they  saw  all  around  them  ;  and 
they  determined  to  make  a  new  start  on  a  firm  basis.     What 


THE   PR/ERAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD.  1 27 

was  the  basis  to  be?  It  was  to  be  serious  and  elevated 
invention  of  subject,  along  with  earnest  scrutiny  of  visible 
facts,  and  an  earnest  endeavour  to  present  them  veraciously 
and  exactly. 

This  does  not  fully  account  for  their  calling  themselves 
Praeraphaelites.  Mr.  Hunt  says — and  he  must  be  correct — 
that  the  word  Praeraphaelites  "  had  first  been  used  as  a  term 
of  contempt  by  our  enemies  "  ;  founded,  it  would  seem,  more 
upon  the  talk  of  the  young  men  than  upon  anything  (apart 
from  such  minor  matters  as  the  study  of  the  Ghiberti  Gates) 
which  they  had  actually  done.  Hunt's  pictures  as  yet  had 
no  distinctively  Praeraphaelite  quality,  Millais's  were  quite  in 
the  contrary  line,  and  Rossetti  was  not  known  to  have  painted 
at  all.  But  they  saw,  in  the  Italian  painters  from  Giotto  to 
Leonardo,  and  in  certain  early  Flemish  and  German  painters 
so  far  as  they  knew  about  them  (which  was  little),  a  manifest 
emotional  sincerity,  expressed  sometimes  in  a  lofty  and  solemn 
way,  and  sometimes  with  a  candid  nai'vetd ;  they  saw  strong 
evidences  of  grace,  decorative  charm,  observation  and  defini- 
tion of  certain  appearances  of  Nature,  and  patient  and  loving 
but  not  mechanical  labour.  In  the  language  of  art  there  is, 
or  ought  to  be,  a  certain  distinction  between  the  terms  "  con- 
ventionalism "  and  "conventionality."  Of  conventionalism — 
an  adherence  to  certain  types,  traditions,  and  preconceptions 
— there  is  assuredly  a  vast  deal  in  these  early  masters  ;  but 
of  conventionality,  as  a  lifeless  application  of  school-precepts, 
accepted  on  authority,  muddled  in  the  very  act  of  acceptance, 
and  paraded  with  conceited  or  pedantic  self-applause,  there 
is,  in  the  men  who  carried  the  art  forward  from  point  to 
point,  no  defined  trace.  Each  of  them  did  his  best  as  he 
best  could,  and  handed  on  the  art  to  be  bettered  by  his 
successor. 

It  was  with  this  feeling,  and  obviously  not  with  any  idea 
of  actually  imitating  any  painters  who  had  preceded  Raphael, 
that  the  youths  adopted  as  a  designation,  instead  of  re- 
pelling as  an  imputation,  the  word  Praeraphaelite.  The  word 
"  Brotherhood  "  was,  it  seems,  Rossetti's  term,  put  forward  as 


128  DANTE  GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

being  preferable — which  it  most  clearly  was — to  any  such 
term  as  Clique  or  Association.  And  thus  was  the  Praeraphaelite 
Brotherhood  constituted  as  the  autumn  of  1848  began. 

Some  writers  have  said  that  Rossetti  was  the  originator 
of  Praeraphaelitism.  This  ignores  the  just  claims  of  Hunt 
and  Millais,  which  I  regard  as  co-equal  with  his.  Rossetti 
had  an  abundance  of  ideas,  pictorial  and  also  literary,  and 
was  fuller  of  "  notions  "  than  the  other  two,  and  had  more 
turn  for  proselytizing  and  "  pronunciamentos  "  ;  but  he  was 
not  at  all  more  resolute  in  wanting  to  do  something  good 
which  should  also  be  something  new.  He  was  perhaps  the 
most  defiant  of  the  three  ;  and  undoubtedly  a  kind  of 
adolescent  defiance,  along  with  art-sympathies  highly  de- 
veloped in  one  direction,  and  unduly  or  even  ignorantly 
restricted  in  others,  played  a  part,  and  no  small  part,  in 
Prseraphaelitism.  But  Hunt,  if  less  strictly  defiant,  was  still 
more  tough,  and  Millais  was  all  eagerness  for  the  fray — 
"  longing  to  be  at  'em,"  and  to  show  his  own  mettle.  The 
fact  is  that  not  one  of  the  three  could  have  done  much 
as  an  innovator  without  the  other  two.  A  bond  of  mutual 
support  was  essential,  and  an  isolated  attempt  might  have 
fizzed  off  as  a  mere  personal  eccentricity.  As  it  was, 
Prseraphaelitism  proved  to  be  very  up-hill  work.  It  was 
more  abused,  as  being  the  principle  of  a  few  men  in  unison, 
than  it  would  have  been  if  exemplified  by  one  of  them  only ; 
but  the  very  abuse  was  the  beginning  of  its  triumph.  Any 
one  of  them,  if  acting  by  himself,  might  have  been  recognized 
as  a  man  of  genius  ;  he  would  hardly  have  become  a  power 
in  art.  If  the  invention  of  "  the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood  " 
was  a  craze,  it  was  a  craze  spiced  with  a  deal  of  long- 
headedness.     Some  method  in  that  sort  of  madness. 

But,  on  these  points  as  to  his  own  relation  to  other  Praera- 
phaelite painters,  Dante  Rossetti  has  himself  given  a  very 
distinct  explanation.  It  appears  in  a  letter  which  he  ad- 
dressed on  7  November  1868  to  M.  Ernest  Chesneau, 
consequent  on  the  publication  of  that  able  critic's  book  Les 
Nations  Rivales  dans  I' Art.     The  passage  which  I  here  quote 


THE   PR/ERAPHAELITE    BROTHERHOOD.  1 29 

is  printed  in  Professor  Edouard  Rod's  volume,  Etudes  sur  le 
Dix-neuvieme  Steele,  1888,  and  the  Professor  leaves  unaltered 
Rossetti's  "  incorrections  de  langue  "  : — 

"  En  ce  qui  concerne  la  qualification  de  '  Chef  de  l'Ecole  Pre- 
raphaelite'  que  vous  m'attribuez  d'apres  vos  renseignements,  je  dois 
vous  assurer  le  plus  chaudement  possible  qu'elle  ne  m'est  nullement 
due.  Loin  d'etre  '  Chef  de  l'Ecole '  par  priorite  ou  par  merite,  je 
puis  a  peine  me  reconnaitre  comme  y  appartenant,  si  le  style  du 
peu  que  j'ai  fait  en  peinture  venait  a  etre  compare  avec  les  ouvrages 
des  autres  peintres  nommes  Preraphaelites.  Ainsi,  quand  je  trouve 
un  peintre  si  absolument  original  que  l'est  Holman  Hunt  decrit 
comme  etant  mon  '  disciple,'  il  m'est  impossible  de  ne  pas  me  sentir 
humilie  en  face  de  la  verite,  et  de  ne  pas  vous  assurer  du  contraire 
avec  le  plus  grand  empressement.  Les  qualites  de  realisme,  emoti- 
onnel  mais  extremement  minutieux,  qui  donnent  le  cachet  au  style 
nomme  Preraphaelite,  se  trouvent  principalement  dans  tous  les 
tableaux  de  Holman  Hunt,  dans  la  plupart  de  ceux  de  Madox 
Brown,  dans  quelques  morceaux  de  Hughes,  et  dans  l'ceuvre  ad- 
mirable de  la  jeunesse  de  Millais.  C'est  la  camaraderie,  plutot  que 
la  collaboration  reelle  du  style,  qui  a  uni  mon  nom  aux  leurs  dans 
les  jours  d'enthousiasme  d'il  y  a  vingt  ans." 

The  charge  that  the  Prseraphaelite  trio  applied  themselves 
slavishly  to  mere  copyism,  microscopic  detail,  and  the  like, 
has  been  so  often  alleged  that  it  had  better  be  dealt  with 
here  at  once.  Mr.  Hunt  puts  the  matter  plainly,  and  is  a 
final  authority  upon  it.  I  will  therefore  extract  a  few  of  his 
words  : — 

"  It  may  be  seen  that  we  were  never,  what  often  we  have  been 
called,  '  Realists.'  I  think  the  art  would  have  ceased  to  have  the 
slightest  interest  for  any  one  of  the  three  painters  concerned,  had 
the  object  been  only  to  make  a  representation,  elaborate  or  un- 
elaborate,  of  a  fact  in  Nature.  ...  In  agreeing  to  use  the  utmost 
elaboration  in  painting  our  first  pictures,  we  never  meant  more  than 
that  the  practice  was  essential  for  training  the  eye  and  the  hand  of 
the  young  artist.  We  should  never  have  admitted  that  the  relinquish- 
ment of  this  habit  of  work  by  a  matured  painter  would  make  him 
less  of  a  PrEeraphaelite." 

VOL.  I.  9 


130  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

To  add  anything  to  Mr.  Hunt's  dictum  on  this  matter  is 
almost  an  impertinence.  I  will  nevertheless  confirm  it,  as 
being  a  point  of  which  I  also  was  cognizant — and  indeed  the 
like  view  was  expressed  in  a  kind  of  declaration  of  principles 
of  the  Brotherhood  which  I  drew  up  at  the  beginning  of  185 1, 
but  which  seems  to  be  lost  this  long  while.  I  will  however 
concede  thus  much  to  the  antagonist — that,  although  it  is 
certainly  true  that  the  Prseraphaelites  looked  upon  elaboration 
of  detail  as  being  rather  a  discipline  for  students  than  a 
necessary  practice  for  proficients,  they  were  not  always 
sufficiently  careful  to  affirm  this,  but,  in  the  heat  of  con- 
troversy, would  sometimes  seem  to  imply  that  such  elabora- 
tion was  really  requisite,  as  well  as  admissible  and  useful. 

I  will  advert  briefly  to  one  other  point.  It  has  been 
said  that  Madox  Brown  declined  to  join  the  Prasraphaelite 
Brotherhood  (and  that  he  did  decline  is  true)  on  the  ground 
partly  that  he  had  no  faith  in  coteries,  and  partly  that  the 
Praeraphaelites  insisted  upon  copying  from  a  model  exactly 
as  he  or  she  stood,  and  without  permitting  any  modification 
of  visage,  etc.,  to  suit  the  picture.  The  objection  to  coteries 
was,  I  believe,  made  by  Brown,  and  was  far  from  unreason- 
able ;  but,  as  for  the  objection  to  not  deviating  from  the 
model,  I  entertain  considerable  doubt.  Some  such  rule  as 
a  theory  may  perhaps  have  been  in  some  degree  of  favour 
with  the  Brotherhood  at  one  time  or  other  ;  but  I  am  certain 
it  was  not  acted  upon  even  in  their  first  fervid  year.  The 
head  of  Lorenzo,  in  Millais's  picture  of  1848-9,  Lorenzo  and 
Isabella  from  Keats's  poem,  was  painted  from  me,  but  the 
hair  was  made  golden,  whereas  mine  was  black.  The  head 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  Rossetti's  picture  of  the  same  year, 
was  painted  from  our  sister  Christina,  and  here  again  the 
hair  was  made  golden  instead  of  dark  brown.  From  Hunt's 
picture  I  have  no  doubt  that  some  similar  detail  might  be  cited. 
All  this  1  say  without  implying  that  that  notion  of  strictest 
adherence  to  the  model  has  no  value.  I  think  it  has  some,  as 
conducing  to  a  general  air  of  genuineness  and  vvaisemblance, 
though  it  should  not  be  pushed  to  a  pragmatical  extreme. 


THE   PRAERAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD.  131 

The  three  youths  who  founded  the  Praeraphaelite  Brother- 
hood did  not  aim  at  confining  it  to  themselves,  supposing 
that  other  eligible  men  could  be  discovered  and  enlisted. 
This  was  done  with  four  young  men — Thomas  Woolner  the 
sculptor,  James  Collinson  a  painter,  Frederic  George  Stephens, 
an  Academy-student  of  painting,  and  myself.  I  hardly 
know  whether  any  of  the  three  former  had  been  sounded 
before  the  Lasinio  evening,  and  the  consequent  formation  of 
a  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood  consisting  of  Millais,  Hunt,  and 
Rossetti.  I  presume  not.  Mr.  Stephens  was  a  particular  ally 
of  Mr.  Hunt,  who  must,  I  apprehend,  have  been  his  introducer 
into  the  Brotherhood.  Mr.  Woolner  was  probably  known 
to  all  three,  and  I  could  not  affirm  to  which  of  them  most — 
maybe  Mr.  Millais.  Mr.  Collinson,  and  of  course  myself, 
were  nominated  by  my  brother.  I  will  say  a  little  about  three 
members  of  the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood,  or  "  P.R.B."  ;  the 
"  P.R.B.'s,"  as  they  called  and  for  a  while  signed  themselves. 
I  omit  Millais  and  Hunt,  as  being  living  men  of  renown  with 
whom  I  need  not  meddle. 

Thomas  Woolner  was  a  Suffolk  man,  born  in  December 
1825,  and  was  therefore  about  two  years  and  a  half  older  than 
Rossetti.  He  studied  under  the  sculptor  Behnes,  and  had 
already  exhibited  some  few  works  before  the  P.R.B.  was 
formed.  Ultimately  he  became  an  R.A.,  and  he  died  in 
October  1892.  3HIe  produced  some  ideal  works  of  superior 
quality,  but  became  chiefly  known  as  a  portrait  and  bust 
sculptor.  In  this  branch  of  the  art,  an  energetic  insight  into 
character,  and  scrupulous  skill  in  modelling  and  finish,  were 
his  leading  merits.  He  was  a  genial  manly  personage,  full 
of  gusto  for  many  things  in  life ;  a  vigorous  believer  in  himself 
and  his  performances,  and  (it  may  be  allowed)  rather  dis- 
inclined to  admit  the  deservings  of  any  rivals  in  his  art. 

James  Collinson,  born  in  May  1825,  was  a  small  thick- 
necked  man,  chiefly  a  domestic  painter,  who  began  with 
careful  and  rather  timid  practice  ;  in  demeanour,  modest  and 
retiring.  He  had  been  a  steady  church-goer  in  the  Anglican 
communion  ;  but,  about  the   date  of  the   formation   of  the 


132  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Brotherhood,  he  became  a  Roman-catholic,  and  after  a  while 
saw  fit,  as  a  religionist,  to  resign  his  position  as  a  P.R.B.  He 
did  not  rise  to  distinction  in  the  pictorial  art,  and  died  in  the 
spring  of  1881. 

Frederic  George  Stephens,  a  little  older  than  Hunt,  ex- 
hibited a  very  few  pictures  in  the  early  years  of  Praera- 
phaelitism  ;  but,  while  still  young,  he  relinquished  painting 
as  a  definite  profession,  and  became  an  Art-critic,  capable 
and  influential.  He  had — or  rather  still  has — an  uncommonly 
well-moulded  and  picturesque  face ;  painted  by  Millais  as 
Ferdinand  in  the  early  picture  Ferdinand  lured  by  Ariel,  and 
by  Madox  Brown  soon  afterwards  as  Jesus  in  the  admirable 
work,  now  in  the  National  Gallery,  of  Jesus  washing  Peter's 
Feet.  It  is  a  fact,  and  a  melancholy  one,  that  Dante  Rossetti, 
as  the  years  progressed,  lost  sight  of  all  his  "  Praeraphaelite 
Brothers  "  except  only  of  Stephens  at  sparse  intervals — "  dear 
staunch  Stephens,  one  of  my  oldest  and  best  friends,"  as  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Caine  towards  1879. 

Mr.  Stephens  had  a  great  liking  for  the  early  schools  of 
art,  Italian  and  other.  Possibly  his  knowledge  of  them  ex- 
ceeded that  of  any  other  P.R.B. ,  and  so  far  he  might  reason- 
ably be  called  a  "  Praeraphaelite."  As  to  Woolner  and 
Collinson,  neither  of  them,  from  natural  inclination  or  from 
course  of  study  and  practice,  went  at  all  in  that  direction  ;  a 
fact  which  confirms  the  true  view  of  the  matter — that  the 
Praeraphaelites  had  no  notion  of  recurring  to  or  imitating  old 
art,  but  simply  aimed  at  pursuing  the  art  in  that  spirit  of 
personal  earnestness  and  modesty,  both  as  to  the  treatment 
of  ideals  and  as  to  the  contemplation  of  natural  truths,  which 
had  animated  the  earlier  Old  Masters,  and  had  faltered  or 
failed  in  the  later  ones,  and  of  which,  in  the  current  British 
School,  the  traces  were  few  and  far  between.  For  myself,  I 
obviously  was,  and  I  remained,  an  outsider,  so  far  as  the 
practice  of  fine  art  goes.  I  was  made  Secretary  of  the 
Brotherhood  ;  and  pretty  soon  I  became  an  Art-critic- — in 
The  Critic  (a  weekly  paper  something  like  the  Athenceuni) 
from   the    summer   of    1850,   and    in     The    Spectator    from 


THE   PR.ERAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD.  1 33 

November  in  the  same  year.  I  sometimes  ponder  with 
astonishment  the  fact  that  the  first  of  these  papers  allowed 
me  to  instruct  its  public  on  matters  of  fine  art  before  I  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  the  second  immediately  after- 
wards. It  is  true  that  The  Germ  had  appeared  before  I  wrote 
in  The  Critic. 

As  soon  as  the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood  was  formed  it 
became  a  focus  of  boundless  companionship,  pleasant  and 
touching  to  recall.  We  were  really  like  brothers,  continually 
together,  and  confiding  to  one  another  all  experiences 
bearing  upon  questions  of  art  and  literature,  and  many 
affecting  us  as  individuals.  We  dropped  using  the  term 
"  Esquire "  on  letters,  and  substituted  "  P.R.B."  I  do  not 
exaggerate  in  saying  that  every  member  of  the  fraternity 
was  just  as  much  intent  upon  furthering  the  advance  and 
promoting  the  interests  of  his  "  Brothers  "  as  his  own.  There 
were  monthly  meetings,  at  the  houses  or  studios  of  the  various 
members  in  succession  ;  occasionally  a  moonlight  walk  or  a 
night  on  the  Thames.  Beyond  this,  but  very  few  days  can 
have  passed  in  a  year  when  two  or  more  P.R.B.'s  did  not  fore- 
gather for  one  purpose  or  another,  The  only  one  of  us  who 
could  be  regarded  as  moderately  well  off,  living  en  famille  on 
a  scale  of  average  comfort,  was  Millais  ;  others  were  struggling 
or  really  poor.  All  that  was  of  no  account.  We  had  our 
thoughts,  our  unrestrained  converse,  our  studies,  aspirations, 
efforts,  and  actual  doings ;  and  for  every  P.R.B.  to  drink  a 
cup  or  two  of  tea  or  coffee,  or  a  glass  or  two  of  beer,  in  the 
company  of  other  P.R.B.'s,  with  or  without  the  accompani- 
ment of  tobacco  (without  it  for  Dante  Rossetti,  who  never 
smoked  at  all),  was  a  heart-relished  luxury,  the  equal  of  which 
the  flow  of  long  years  has  not  often  presented,  I  take  it,  to 
any  one  of  us.  Those  were  the  days  of  youth  ;  and  each  man 
in  the  company,  even  if  he  did  not  project  great  things  of  his 
own,  revelled  in  poetry  or  sunned  himself  in  art.  Hunt,  to 
my  thinking,  was  the  most  sagacious  talker  ;  Woolner  the 
most  forceful  and  entertaining ;  Dante  Rossetti  the  most 
intellectual.     Such  men  could  not  be  mere  plodders  in  con- 


134  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

versation  :  but  all — to  their  credit  be  it  spoken — were  perfectly 
free-and-easy,  and  wholly  alien  from  anything  approaching 
to  affectation,  settled  self-display,  or  stilted  "  tall  talk."  And 
this  holds  good  of  every  member  of  the  Brotherhood.  Mr. 
Hunt  has  done  more  than  ample  justice  to  Rossetti's  literary 
acquirements,  saying  of  him,  at  the, date  when  he  entered 
upon  the  studio  in  Cleveland  Street  : — 

"  Rossetti  had  then  perhaps  a  greater  acquaintance  with  the  poetical 
literature  of  Europe  than  any  living  man.  His  storehouse  of  treasures 
seemed  inexhaustible.  If  he  read  twice  or  thrice  a  long  poem,  it 
was  literally  at  his  tongue's  end ;  and  he  had  a  voice  rarely  equalled 
for  simple  recitations.  .  .  .  Sordello  and  Paracelsus  he  would  give 
by  forty  and  fifty  pages  at  a  time.  .  .  .  Then  would  come  the 
pathetic  strains  of  W.  B.  Scott's  Rosabell.  .  .  .  These,  and  there 
were  countless  other  examples,  all  showed  a  wide  field  of  interest 
as  to  poetic  schools." 

Had  the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood  any  ulterior  aim  be- 
yond that  of  producing  good  works  of  art  ?  Yes,  and  No. 
Assuredly  it  had  the  aim  of  developing  such  ideas  as  are 
suited  to  the  medium  of  fine  art,  and  of  bringing  the  arts 
of  form  into  general  unison  with  what  is  highest  in  other 
arts,  especially  poetry.  Likewise  the  aim  of  showing  by  con- 
trast how  threadbare  were  the  pretensions  of  most  painters 
of  the  day,  and  how  incapable  they  were  of  constituting  or 
developing  any  sort  of  School  of  Art  worthy  of  the  name. 
In  the  person  of  two  at  least  of  its  members,  Hunt  and 
Collinson,  it  had  also  a  definite  relation  to  a  Christian,  and 
not  a  pagan  or  latitudinarian,  line  of  thought  On  the  other 
hand,  the  notion  that  the  Brotherhood,  as  such,  had  anything 
whatever  to  do  with  particular  movements  in  the  religious 
world — whether  Roman  Catholicism,  Anglican  Tractarianism, 
or  what  not — is  totally,  and,  to  one  who  formed  a  link  in 
its  composition,  even  ludicrously,  erroneous.  To  say  that 
Praeraphaelitism  was  part  of  "  the  ever-rising  protest  and 
rebellion  of  our  century  against  artificial  authority,"  as  in 
the  cases  of  "  the  French  Revolution  "  and  Wordsworth  and 


THE   PR^ERAPHAELITE    BROTHERHOOD.  1 35 

Darwin,  etc.,1  is  not  indeed  untrue,  but  is  far  too  vague  to  ac- 
count for  anything.  Again,  the  so-called  German  Praeraphael- 
ites — such  as  Schnorr,  Overbeck,  and  Cornelius — were  in  no 
repute  with  the  young  British  artists.  They  did,  however, 
admire  very  much  certain  designs  by-Fu-kri-eh  from  the  Legend  5"e  Inl  e 
of  St.  Genevieve.  Neither  was  Ruskin  their  inciter,  though 
it  is  true  that  Hunt  had  read  and  laid  to  heart  in  1847  the 
first  volume  of  Modern  Painters,  the  only  thing  then  current 
as  Ruskin's  work.  I  do  not  think  any  other  P.R.B.  (with 
the  possible  exception  of  Collinson)  had,  up  to  1848  or 
later,  read  him  at  all.  That  the  Praeraphaelites  valued  moral 
and  spiritual  ideas  as  an  important  section  of  the  ideas 
germane  to  fine  art  is  most  true,  and  not  one  of  them  was 
in  the  least  inclined  to  do  any  work  of  a  gross,  lascivious,  or 
sensual  description  ;  but  neither  did  they  limit  the  province 
of  art  to  the  spiritual  or  the  moral.  I  will  therefore  take  it 
upon  me  to  say  that  the  bond  of  union  among  the  Members 
of  the  Brotherhood  was  really  and  simply  this  —  1,  To  have 
genuine  ideas  to  express  ;  2,  to  study  Nature  attentively,  so 
as  to  know  how  to  express  them  ;  3,  to  sympathize  with 
what  is  direct  and  serious  and  heartfelt  in  previous  art,  to 
the  exclusion  of  what  is  conventional  and  self-parading 
and  learned  by  rote  ;  and  4,  and  most  indispensable  of  all, 
to  produce  thoroughly  good  pictures  and  statues. 

After  the  first  fervour  of  youth  was  past,  Rossetti  was 
somewhat  impatient  of  the  terms  Praeraphaelitism  and  Praera- 
phaelite.  In  1880  he  said  to  Mr.  Caine  something  which  that 
author  records  in  the  following  words :  "  As  for  all  the 
prattle  about  Praeraphaelitism,  I  confess  to  you  1  am  weary 
of  it,  and  long  have  been.  Why  should  we  go  on  talking 
about  the  visionary  vanities  of  half-a-dozen  boys?  What 
you  call  the  movement  was  serious  enough,  but  the  banding 
together  under  that  title  was  all  a  joke."  And  Mr.  William 
Sharp  says  that,  to  a  lady  enquiring  whether  he  was  the 
Praeraphaelite  Rossetti    (perhaps   towards    1870),  he   replied, 

1  See  Mrs.  Wood's  Dante  Rossetti  and  the  Prceraphaelite  Move?ne?it,  p.  9. 


136  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

"  Madam,  I  am  not  an  '  ite  '  of  any  kind  ;  I  am  only  a  painter." 
These  statements  I  accept;  but  it  is  not  the  less  true  that 
in  1848  and  for  some  years  afterwards  he  meant  a  good  deal 
by  calling  himself  Praeraphaelite,  and  meant  it  very  heartily. 

I  will  complete  here  a  few  details  about  the  Brotherhood, 
although  these  will  lead  me  some  way  beyond  the  date 
which  we  have  as  yet  reached,  the  autumn  of  1848.  In 
May  1849  it  was  settled  that  I,  as  Secretary  to  the  Brother- 
hood, or  its  only  non-professional  member,  should  keep  a 
Diary  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Society,  and  of  the  art-work 
of  the  several  P.R.B.'s  so  far  as  that  came  within  my 
cognizance.  This  I  proceeded  to  do ;  and  up  to  8  April  1850 
I  kept  the  Diary  without  the  omission  of  a  day.  Afterwards 
I  was  less  regular  ;  but  still,  allowing  for  several  intervals,  the 
Diary  goes  on  to  29  January  1853.  In  my  hands  it  con- 
tinues ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  at  some  date — possibly 
about  1855 — Dante  inspected  the  MS.  when  I  was  not  by  ;  and, 
finding  some  entries  which,  for  one  reason  or  another,  he  did 
not  relish,  he  tore  the  pages  up  freely  here  and  there — a 
summary  proceeding  quite  in  his  style.  I  surmise  that  he  saw 
some  particulars  about  Miss  Siddal  (shortly  to  be  mentioned)  ; 
certainly  nothing  invidious  about  her,  but  he  may  have 
decreed  in  his  own  mind  that  her  name  should  not  appear  in 
the  record  at  all.  Nevertheless  a  great  deal  still  remains  ; 
and  furnishes  a  very  authentic,  if  also  an  unentertaining, 
account  of  what  the  seven  Prseraphaelites  were  doing  in  those 
now  remote  years.  There  is  a  copy  of  Collinson's  letter, 
May  1850,  withdrawing  from  the  Brotherhood — a  step  which 
he  attributes  to  religious  considerations  as  a  Roman-catholic, 
though  these  are  not  defined  with  any  extreme  clearness. 
After  this,  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  is  an  entry  pur- 
porting that  Walter  Howell  Deverell  "  has  worthily  filled  up 
the  place  left  vacant  by  Collinson  " — his  nominator  (I  have 
no  doubt,  speaking  from  memory)  being  Dante  Rossetti.  But 
it  appears  that  this  election  was  considered  not  entirely  valid 
by  some  other  member  or  members,  and,  at  a  meeting  of 
9   February  1851,  it  was  ruled  that  any  such  new  member 


THE   PRAERAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD.  1 37 

must  be  subjected  to  annual  re-election.  At  a  previous 
meeting,  13  January,  Millais  expressed  a  doubt  whether  the 
name  P.R.B.  should  be  continued,  as  being  liable  to  miscon- 
struction ;  and  a  resolution  was  passed  that  each  member 
should  put  down  in  writing  what  meaning  he  attached  to  the 
name,  these  declarations  to  be  submitted  to  the  next  ensuing 
meeting.  I  feel  considerable  doubt  whether  any  member, 
except  myself,  gave  practical  effect  to  the  resolution.  At  any 
rate,  the  Diary  shows  nothing  further  about  the  matter.  These 
were  last  dying  efforts  at  a  continuance  of  regular  meetings, 
which,  as  recorded  on  2  December  1850,  had  then  already 
become  "  thoroughly  obsolete."  With  virtuous  intentions, 
new  and  stringent  rules  about  meetings,  etc.,  were  adopted 
on  13  January  1851  ;  but  they  were  forthwith  disobeyed,  and 
the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood,  as  a  practical  working  organi- 
zation, and  something  more  than  a  mere  knot  of  friends,  may 
be  regarded  as  from  that  date  sinking  into  desuetude.  For 
this  there  was  at  the  time  no  sort  of  real  reason  ;  only  that 
the  several  members  were  developing  each  in  his  own  proper 
direction,  were  hard  at  work  and  scattered  in  local  position, 
and  found  that  any  inclination  for  assembling  together  was 
subject  to  too  many  interruptions  and  obstacles.  I  fancy 
that  Mr.  Stephens  and  myself  were  the  two  members  who 
most  sincerely  regretted  this  disruption.  And  so,  as  a  definite 
scheme  in  the  art- world,  ended  the  Praeraphaelite  Brother- 
hood. The  members  got  to  talk  less  and  less  of  Praera- 
phaelitism,  the  public  more  and  more ;  and  the  name  still 
subsists  in  a  very  active  condition — which  is  also  a  very  lax 
and  undefined  one,  and  in  many  instances  wholly  misapplied. 
In  Rossetti's  letter  to  his  sister,  dated  8  November  1853, 
a  quotation  may  be  observed,  consequent  upon  the  election 
of  Millais  as  an  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy — 

"  So  now  the  whole  Round  Table  is  dissolved." 

And  so  it  proved  to  be — if  indeed  the  dissolution  is  not 
to  be  reckoned  as  dating  earlier,  which  for  most  practical 
purposes   it   did.     Christina    hereupon,    10   November,  wrote 


138  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

a  sonnet,  neat  though  irregular,  to  which  I  will  give  a  niche  in 
my  narrative : — 

THE  P.R.B. 

"The  P.R.B.  is  in  its  decadence: 

For  Woolner  in  Australia  cooks  his  chops, 
And  Hunt  is  yearning  for  the  land  of  Cheops  ; 

D.  G.  Rossetti  shuns  the  vulgar  optic  ; 
While  William  M.  Rossetti  merely  lops 

His  B's  in  English  disesteemed  as  Coptic ; 
Calm  Stephens  in  the  twilight  smokes  his  pipe, 
But  long  the  dawning  of  his  public  daj' ; 
And  he  at  last  the  champion  great  Millais, 
Attaining  Academic  opulence, 

Winds  up  his  signature  with  A.R.A. 
So  rivers  merge  in  the  perpetual  sea; 

So  luscious  fruit  must  fall  when  over-ripe ; 
And  so  the  consummated  P.R.B." 

This  sonnet  had  wholly  lapsed  from  my  recollection  until 
I  happened  to  light  upon  it  during  the  progress  of  the  present 
Memoir.  The  only  point  in  it  which  in  our  time  seems 
rather  obscure  is  the  reference  to  myself — which  must  mean 
that  I,  in  my  press-criticisms,  made  light  of  my  P.R.B.  col- 
leagues (which  is  joke,  not  fact),  and  that  my  utterances  met 
with  no  public  regard  (which  is  partial  but  not  entire  fact ; 
for  these  criticisms,  appearing  in  a  paper  of  such  high  repute 
as  The  Spectator,  and  being,  in  1850  to  1852,  nearly  the  only 
press-reviews  which  upheld  the  Prseraphaelite  cause;  did 
excite  some  attention,  and  I  suppose  some  anger.  Mr. 
Stephens,  who  succeeded  me  on  The  Critic,  must  have 
co-operated).  I  will  take  this  opportunity  of  saying  that  the 
statement,  which  has  been  constantly  repeated  in  recent 
months,  that  Christina  went  among  us  by  the  name  of  "  the 
Queen  of  the  Praeraphaelites,"  is,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge 
and  remembrance,  a  mere  invention.  It  was  first  put  forward, 
I  apprehend,  by  Mrs.  Tooley,  in  an  article  on  Christina  which 
she  published,  in  the  autumn  of  1894,  in  a  serial  entitled  The 
Young  Woman.  I  knew  nothing  of  such  an  appellative ; 
Christina,  to  whom   I   mentioned  it,  knew  nothing  also  ;  and 


THE   PR^RAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD.  1 39 

Mr.  Stephens,  who  has  a  long  memory  on  all  such  details, 
neither  knows  nor  believes  anything  of  it. 

I  am  minded — and  I  hope  not  to  the  reader's  serious  dis- 
gust— to  insert  here  those  Rules  of  the  Brotherhood  which,  as 
aforesaid,  were  adopted  on  13  January  185 1,  and  were  never 
carried  into  effect.  They  show  or  suggest  not  only  what 
we  then  intended  to  do,  but  a  great  deal  of  what  had  been 
occupying  our  attention  since  the  autumn  ©f  1848.  The  day 
when  we  codified  proved  also  to  be  the  day  when  no  code 
was  really  in  requisition.  The  document,  which  is  of  course 
in  my  handwriting,  runs  as  follows  : — 

"P.R.B. — Present,  at  Hunt's,  himself,  Millais,  Stephens,  and 
W.  M.  Rossetti,  13  January  1851. 

"  In  consideration  of  the  unsettled  and  unwritten  state  of  the 
Rules  guiding  the  P.R.B.,  it  is  deemed  necessary  to  determine  and 
adopt  a  recognized  system. 

"The  P.R.B.  originally  consisted  of  seven  members — Hunt, 
Millais,  Dante  and  William  Rossetti,  Stephens,  Woolner,  and  another  • 
and  has  been  reduced  to  six  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  last.  It  was 
at  first  positively  understood  that  the  P.R.B.  is  to  consist  of  these 
persons  and  no  others — secession  of  any  original  member  not  being 
contemplated ;  and  the  principle  that  neither  this  highly  important 
rule  nor  any  other  affecting  the  P.R.B.  can  be  repealed  or  modified, 
nor  any  finally  adopted,  unless  on  unanimous  consent  of  the  members, 
is  hereby  declared  permanent  and  unalterable. 

"Rule  1.  That  William  Michael  Rossetti,  not  being  an  artist,  be 
Secretary  of  the  P.R.B. 

"  2.  Considering  the  unforeseen  vacancy  as  above  stated,  Resolved 
that  the  question  of  the  election  of  a  successor  be  postponed  until 
after  the  opening  of  the  year's  art-exhibitions.  This  Rule  to  be 
acted  on  as  a  precedent  in  case  of  any  future  similar  contingency. 

"  3.  That,  in  case  a  new  election  be  voted,  the  person  named  as 
eligible  be  on  probation  for  one  year,  enjoying  meanwhile  all  the 
advantages  of  full  membership,  except  as  to  voting. 

"4.  That,  on  the  first  Friday  of  every  month,  a  P.R.B.  meeting, 
such  as  has  hitherto  been  customary,  be  held. 

"5.  That  the  present  meeting  be  deemed  the  first  in  rotation 
under  the  preceding  Rule;  and  that  the  future  meetings  be  held 


140  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

at  the  abodes  of  the  several  members,  in  order  as  follows — Millais, 
Dante  Rossetti,  William  Rossetti,  Stephens,  Woolner. 

"  6.  That,  in  the  event  of  the  absence  of  the  Member  at  whose 
house  any  meeting  falls  due,  or  other  obstacle — to  be  allowed  as 
valid  by  the  others — the  Secretary  be  made  aware  of  the  fact ;  and 
that  the  Member  next  in  rotation  act  for  the  absent  Member :  the 
ensuing  meetings  to  follow  as  before  provided. 

"  7.  That  unjustified  absence  under  such  circumstances  subject 
the  defaulter  to  a  fine  of  5^. 

"  8.  That  a  Probationary  Member  be  not*  required  to  take  his 
turn  in  this  rotation. 

"  9.  That  at  each  such  monthly  meeting  the  Secretary  introduce 
any  business  that  may  require  consideration — to  the  exclusion  of 
other  topics  until  such  business  shall  have  been  dispatched. 

"  10.  That  any  Member  unavoidably  absent  be  entitled  to  send 
his  written  opinion  on  any  subject  fixed  for  consideration. 

"11.  That,  failing  full  attendance  at  a  meeting,  or  unanimously 
expressed  opinion,  the  members  present  may  adopt  Resolutions, — 
to  remain  in  force  until  a  dissenting  opinion  shall  be  made  known. 

"12.  That  any  member  absent  from  a  meeting  without  valid 
excuse — to  be  allowed  by  the  others — shall  forfeit  zs.  6d. ;  and  that 
no  engagement  with  any  other  person  whatever  be  held  to  supersede 
the  obligation  of  a  P.R.B.  meeting. 

"  13.  That  the  January  meeting  of  each  year  be  deemed  the 
Anniversary  Meeting. 

"  14.  That  the  application  of  fines  accruing  as  before  specified 
be  determined,  by  majority  of  votes,  at  each  such  annual  meeting. 

"  15.  That  at  each  annual  meeting  the  conduct  and  position  of 
each  P.R.B.  during  the  past  year,  in  respect  of  his  membership, 
be  reviewed;  it  being  understood  that  any  member  who  shall  not 
appear  to  have  acted  up  to  the  best  of  his  opportunities  in  furtherance 
of  the  objects  of  the  Brotherhood  is  expected,  by  tacit  consent,  to 
exert  himself  more  actively  in  future. 

"16.  That  the  Secretary  be  required,  as  one  chief  part  of  his 
duty,  to  keep  a  Journal  of  the  P.R.B. 

"17.  That  the  Journal  remain  the  property  of  the  Brotherhood 
collectively,  and  not  of  the  Secretary  or  any  other  individual 
member ;  that  it  be  considered  expedient  in  ordinary  cases  to  read 
the  Journal  at  each  meeting  at  the  Secretary's  residence ;  and  that 


THE   PR^ERAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD,  141 

any  member  have  the  power  to  require  its  production  whenever  he 
may  think  fit.1 

"18.  That  any  election  which  may  be  hereafter  proposed  be 
determined  by  ballot. 

"  19.  That  any  such  election  be  renewable  annually  by  vote  of 
the  six  original  members. 

"  20.  That  any  member  considered  unworthy  to  continue  in  the 
Brotherhood  cease  to  be  a  P.R.B.  on  the  unanimous  vote  of  his 
peers — i.e.,  of  those  in  the  same  class,  as  regards  date  of  election, 
as  himself.2 

"21.  That  the  fines  be  received  by  the  Secretary. 

"22.  That  the  23rd  of  April  be  kept  sacred  annually  to 
Shakespear,  as  an  obligation  equally  binding  as  that  of  a  P.R.B. 
meeting. 

"23.  That,  in  case  any  P.R.B.  should  feel  disposed  to  adopt 
publicly  any  course  of  action  affecting  the  Brotherhood,  the  subject 
be  in  the  first  instance  brought  before  the  other  members." 

Having  now  disposed  of  the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood 
as  an  organization,  I  must  revert  to  the  doings  of  Dante 
Rossetti  in  the  studio  which  from  the  latter  end  of  August 
1848  he  shared  with  Mr.  Hunt.  It  seems  that  the  idea  at 
starting  was  that  Hunt,  Millais,  and  Rossetti,  should  each 
produce  an  etching  from  Keats's  Isabella,  and  thus  show  forth 
to  the  public  their  close  connexion  in  purpose  and  in  work. 
This  intention  however  did  not  take  effect.  Millais,  in  lieu 
of  an  etching,  proceeded  to  paint  his  celebrated  picture  from 
Isabella  ;  Hunt  undertook  Rienzi  swearing  Revenge  over  his 

1  Up  to  this  point  the  Rules  are  written  out  by  me  in  a  clear  deliberate 
script,  being  evidently  a  recast,  done  at  leisure,  from  my  first  hasty  jottings. 
The  subsequent  Rules  are  written  hurriedly,  and  must  have  reached  me 
in  some  different  way:  I  forget  the  details.  The  restrictive  clause,  17, 
as  to  the  Journal,  was  proposed  by  myself.  It  was  not  a  precautionary 
measure  against  me  taken  by  some  one  else. 

2  No  doubt  this  must  be  imperfectly  expressed.  The  real  intention 
must  be  that,  whereas  an  original  P.R.B.  could  only  be  discarded  by  the 
votes  of  the  other  original  members,  a  subsequently  elected  P.R.B.  could 
be  discarded  by  the  votes  of  the  original  members,  and  also  of  any 
members  of  his  own  standing  in  point  of  date. 


142  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Brother s  Corpse ;  and  Rossetti  chose  as  his  subject  The 
Girlhood  of  Mary  Virgin,  painted  on  panel,  33  inches  by 
25.  I  have  no  clear  recollection  of  any  details  leading  up 
to  this  selection.  He  must  have  thought  that  the  subject 
was  one  particularly  worthy  of  a  "  Praeraphaelite "  painter  ; 
and  perhaps  the  consideration  that  he  could  treat  it  without 
any  strained  or  difficult  actions,  and  without  any  plethora 
of  accessory,  and  with  a  certain  reserve  of  style  rather  than 
energetic  realism  in  this  his  first  attempt,  may  have  weighed 
with  him.  Of  course  however  the  plan  was  to  paint  all  parts 
of  the  picture  carefully  from  Nature,  and  this  he  did  not  fail 
to  do.  Hunt  was  of  much  use  to  him  as  an  adviser,  and 
Madox  Brown  frequently  came  in  to  inspect  and  control. 
Rossetti,  according  to  Mr.  Hunt,  displayed  "unchecked 
impatience  at  difficulties "  ;  and  I  can  remember  something 
of  this.  A  remonstrance  from  Hunt  had  a  good  effect,  and 
the  young  painter  managed  to  curb  himself  somewhat. 
"  When  he  had  once  sat  down,"  says  Mr.  Hunt,  "  and  was 
immersed  in  the  effort  to  express  his  purpose,  and  the 
difficulties  had  to  be  wrestled  with,  his  tongue  was  hushed, 
he  remained  fixed,  and  inattentive  to  all  that  went  on  about 
him  ;  he  rocked  himself  to  and  fro,  and  at  times  he  moaned 
lowly  or  hummed  for  a  brief  minute,  as  though  telling  off 
some  idea."  He  found  time  also  for  sitting  to  Hunt  for  the 
head  of  Rienzi,  and  to  Brown  for  that  of  the  Fool  of  King 
Lear  in  the  picture  (previously  mentioned)  of  Cordelia  watching 
the  Bedside  of  Lear.  Both  of  these  are  good  likenesses,  and 
must  remain  of  the  highest  interest  to  sympathizers  with 
Rossetti  as  showing  what  he  appeared  in  the  birth-year  of 
Praeraphaelitism.  Moreover  he  painted  in  oils  a  head  of 
Christina,  which  must  thus  be  the  very  first  finished  painting 
he  produced. 

Perhaps  Rossetti  had  never  been  forestalled  in  representing 
an  ideal  scene  of  the  home-life  of  the  Virgin  Mary  with  her 
parents  ;  certainly  not  in  the  particular  invention  which  this 
picture  embodies.  The  Virgin,  aged  about  seventeen,  is 
shown  working  at  an  embroidery  under  the  eye  of  her  mother 


THE   PRyERAPHAELITE   BROTHERHOOD.  143 

St.  Anna.  The  embroidery  represents  a  lily,  the  emblem  of 
purity,  which  she  copies  from  a  plant  watered  by  a  child- 
angel.  The  father  St.  Joachim l  is  behind,  trailing  up  a  vine. 
The  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  is  also  present.  The 
head  of  the  Virgin  was  painted  from  Christina  Rossetti,  that 
of  St.  Anna  from  our  mother  :  both  very  faithful  likenesses. 
The  vase  containing  the  lily  is  mounted  upon  six  large 
volumes  lettered  with  the  names  of  virtues,  Charity  being 
the  uppermost.  There  are  numerous  other  details,  each  with 
a  symbolic  or  spiritual  meaning  ;  and  I  will  venture  to  say 
that  every  one  of  the  meanings  is  well  conceived  and  rightly 
indicated.  For  the  frame  of  the  picture  my  brother  had  a 
slip  of  gilt  paper  printed  (I  still  possess  a  copy  of  it)  con- 
taining two  sonnets  of  his  composition — the  first  setting  forth 
the  general  purport  of  the  work,  and  the  second  its  individual 
symbols.  The  sonnets  have  been  reproduced  elsewhere,  and 
with  some  reluctance  I  omit  them  here  ;  but  may  observe 
that  the  leading  conception  of  the  picture  is  expressed  in  the 
close  of  the  second  sonnet — 

"  She  soon  shall  have  achieved 
Her  perfect  purity  ;  yea  God  the  Lord 
Shall  soon  vouchsafe  His  son  to  be  her  son." 

This  picture  is  painted  in  rather  bright  but  not  crude  colours — 
a  love  for  the  primary  hues,  so  much  affected  by  painters  of 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  being  a  very  marked 
trait  in  the  practice  of  the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood  at  its 
inception.  The  handling  is  delicate  and  finished,  aiming  at 
nicety  rather  than  strength,  but  it  should  hardly  perhaps 
be  called  timid  ;  the  surface  is  rather  thin.  If  I  remember 
right,  the  only  medium  used  was  copal,  for  the  P.R.B.'s  had 
a  horror  of  thick  and  cloggy  vehicles.  There  is  certainly  not 
the  least  bravura  in  the  work,  neither  did  its  painter  wish 
that   there   should    be  any  ;  but  it   is   very  far   from    being 

1  Mr.  Bell  Scott  says  "  St.  Joseph,"  and  laughs  at  his  being  occupied 
otherwise  than  as  a  carpenter;  but,  the  personage  being  mis-stated,  the 
laugh  is  misapplied. 


144  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

incompetent,  and,  considered  as  the  first  painting  of  a  youth 
of  twenty,  it  may  claim  to  be  highly  remarkable.  There  is 
(or  was)  some  gilding  in  the  hair  of  the  Virgin  and  in  the 
nimbus  round  the  Dove.  The  forms  are  pure  and  simple, 
but  not  ascetic,  and  of  course  with  no  sort  of  copyism  from 
archaic  art.  The  point  most  approaching  to  rigidity  is  the 
straight  contour-line  formed  by  Mary's  legs,  running  parallel 
to  the  embroidery-frame.  This  would  have  been  improved 
by  some  modification. 

There  are  three  sonnets  by  Rossetti  which  belong  to  the 
early  days  of  Praeraphaelitism,  and  which  well  deserve  to  be 
considered  by  persons  who  would  like  to  understand  that 
movement,  and  the  temper  in  which  Rossetti  viewed  it. 
They  now  form  a  portion  of  The  House  of  Life,  and  are 
named  collectively  Old  and  New  Art.  The  second  and  third — 
bearing  the  titles  Not  as  These,  and  The  Husbandman — were 
written  in  1848  ;  the  first,  St.  Luke  the  Painter,  in  1849  ;  and 
this  was  intended  to  illustrate  a  picture  (never  painted)  of 
Luke  preaching,  having  beside  him  pictures,  his  own  work, 
of  Christ  and  the  Virgin  Mary.  These  three  sonnets  testify 
to  a  highly  religious  (not  necessarily  dogmatic)  view  of  the 
function  of  the  Art,  to  love  of  the  old  painters,  and  revolt 
against  the  more  modern  ones,  and  to  a  modest  and  yet 
resolute  desire  to  aid  in  reinstating  the  Art  in  its  legitimate 
place.  The  spirit  which  animates  the  sonnets  is  that  of  a 
man  destined  to  dare  and  do,  and  to  overcome. 

Another  painting — his  second  oil  portrait — was  produced 
by  Dante  Rossetti  towards  the  close  of  1848 — the  likeness 
of  our  father,  half-length  life-size,  commissioned  by  Dante's 
godfather  Mr.  Lyell.  Both  as  a  likeness  and  as  a  picture 
this  work  is  creditable  and  interesting,  without  being  excellent. 

XIV. 

FIRST  EXHIBITED  PICTURE— 1849. 

As  this  is  a  Memoir  of  Rossetti,  and  not  a  Monograph  on  the 
Praeraphaelite    Brotherhood,    I    shall    not    apply   myself  to 


FIRST   EXHIBITED   PICTURE — 1 849.  145 

following  out  the   course  of  the  several  members  ;    but  will 
only  say  that  the  three  chief  painters,   Millais,    Hunt,   and 
Rossetti,    were   ready    with    their    pictures    in    time    for   the 
Exhibiting-season   of  1849.      Millais  and    Hunt   sent  to  the 
Royal   Academy,  Rossetti  to    the  so-called   Free  Exhibition 
near  Hyde  Park  Corner.     This  was  the  second  year  of  that 
Exhibition  as  a  Picture  Gallery.     Its  first  year,  1848,  had  been 
distinguished    by   the    display    of    Madox    Brown's    highly 
interesting    and     important     painting,     Wiclif    reading    his 
Translation   of  the   New    Testament   to  John    of  Gaunt ;    a 
painting  which,  in  its  bright  but  rather  pale  colouring,  light- 
ness of  surface,  and  general  feeling  of  quietism, x  had  beyond  a 
doubt  served  in  some  respects  to  mould  the  ideas  and  beacon 
the  practice  of  the  P.R.B.'s.     The  Free  Exhibition  was  not 
really  free.     The  exhibiting  artists  had  to  pay  for  their  space, 
and  a  percentage  upon  sales,  and  the  public  had  to  pay  for 
admission.     I   suppose  that  it  professed  to  be  free  on   the 
very  ground  that  all  artists  were  free  to  hang  pictures  there 
if  only  they  would  pay  for  the  space  ;  and  I  further  suppose 
that  this  was  a  principal  incentive  to  my  brother  for  betaking 
himself  to  that  gallery  rather  than  the  Royal  Academy.     Mr. 
Brown's  example  (for  he  again  exhibited  here  in  1849)  must 
also  have  influenced  him.     My  brother  was  proud,  and  in  his 
way  prudent  as  well ;  and  he  must  have  contemplated  with 
revulsion    the    mere    possibility    of    being    rejected    at    the 
Academy — an    institution    which    (apart    from  any    crudities 
or  peculiarities  in  his  first  picture)  might  perhaps  view  him 
with    some    disfavour    as    having    abandoned    the    Academy 
course   of  instruction,    and    learned    from    an    outsider   how 
to   handle    pigments    and    brushes.       Next   year,    1850,    the 
Free  Exhibition    quitted    Hyde   Park   Corner,  and  went   to 
Regent  Street  near  Langham  Place,  and  was  there  entitled 
the  National  Institution,  or  Portland  Gallery.     It  continued 
for  some  years,  dying  out  towards   1855.      The  Girlhood  oj 

1  I  have  not  seen  this  picture  in  late  years  ;  have  some  idea  that  it  was 
re-worked  upon,  and  strengthened  in  tint  and  tone. 

VOL.   I.  10 


146  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Mary  Virgin  was  signed  "  Dante  Gabriele  Rossetti,  P.R.B.,"  * 
and  the  same  initials  appeared  on  the  pictures  of  Millais  and 
Hunt,  and  also  of  Collinson.  This  year  the  initials  passed 
without  exciting~any  definite  notice. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  paintings  of  our  three  Prasraphaelites 
were  well  received  by  press  and  public,  and  Millais  and  Hunt 
were  more  than  tolerably  well  hung  in  the  Academy.  This 
becomes  a  remarkable  fact  when  we  consider  the  storm  of 
disapprobation,  rage,  and  contumely,  which  the  pictures  of 
the  same  men — certainly  showing  an  advance  in  pictorial 
quality — encountered  in  the  exhibitions  of  1850.  The  reason 
for  this  differing  treatment  is  obvious  enough,  and  not  less 
discreditable  than  obvious.  In  1849  the  pictures  were  judged 
on  their  merits,  as  three  independent  productions  of  young 
and  promising  men.  In  1850  the  initials  P.R.B.  were  under- 
stood ;  the  young  men  were  discovered  to  be  working  on 
a  common  principle,  in  antagonism  more  or  less  decided  to 
established  rules  and  current  reputations  ;  and  the  floodgates 
of  virulence  were  let  loose,  not  because  the  pictures  were 
bad — they  are  now  well  known  to  be  good — but  because  their 
authors  were  regarded  and  detested  as  pestilent  heretics.  It 
is  a  humiliating  retrospect,  but  not  for  the  P.R.B.'s. 

The  Free  Exhibition  opened  at  the  end  of  March  1849,  the 
Academy  of  course  at  its  usual  date,  the  first  Monday  in 
May  ;  and  thus,  of  all  the  Praeraphaelites,  Rossetti  happened 
to  be  the  first  to  challenge  a  public  verdict.  As  I  have 
already  intimated,  it  proved  a  favourable  one.  I  cannot  say 
how  many  papers  criticized  him.  I  have  before  me  five 
extracts,  and  possibly  these — along  with  The  Builder,  which 
was  also  laudatory — were  all.  They  come  from  the  Art 
Journal,  Literary  Gazette,  Morning  Chronicle,  Observer,  and 
Athenaeum.  In  all  of  them  there  is  high  praise,  intermixed 
with  blame,  more  or  less  mild.  Soon  after  that  date  I  came 
to  know  something  of  Art-critics,  their  ways  and  means  ;  and 

1  So  Mr.  Sharp  says.  This  seems  to  be  the  earliest  instance  in  which 
Rossetti  used  "Dante"  as  his  first  christian  name.  In  the  printed 
Catalogue  the  name  stands  "  G.  D.  Rossetti." 


FIRST   EXHIBITED   PICTURE — 1 849.  147 

I  can  safely  say  that  in  my  youth — I  will  go  no  further  than 
that — they  knew,  as  a  body  of  men,  only  a  very  moderate 
proportion  of  what  they  talked  about.  But  clearly  Dante 
Rossetti  had  no  reason  to  complain  at  this  period.  The  critics 
were  more  than  courteous  to  a  youth  as  yet  totally  unknown. 
I  will  give  here  the  notice  from  the  Athenaeum,  being  the 
most  elaborate  of  the  five.  In  1850  it  was  generally  under- 
stood by  the  Prseraphaelites — -and  I  believe  correctly  so — that 
Mr.  Frank  Stone  the  painter  was  the  Art-critic  of  the 
Athenceum.  He  was  then  highly  abusive.  Whether  he  was 
the  same  writer  who  had  sounded  a  very  different  note  in 
1849  I  do  not  profess  to  know. 

"  It  is  pleasant  to  turn  from  the  mass  of  commonplace,  the  record 
of  mere  fact  or  the  extravagant  conceits  exhibited  in  the  illustra- 
tions of  some  of  our  most  cherished  writers,  prose  and  poetic,  to  a 
manifestation  of  true  mental  power,  in  which  Art  is  made  the 
exponent  of  some  high  aim,  and  what  is  '  of  the  earth,  earthy,'  and 
of  the  Art,  material,  is  lost  sight  of  in  a  dignified  and  intellectual 
purpose.  Such  a  work  will  be  found  here;  not  from  a  long- 
practised  hand,  but  from  one  young  in  experience,  new  to  fame, 
Mr.  G.  D.  Rossetti.  He  has  painted  The  Girlhood  of  Mary  Virgin 
(368) ;  a  work  which,  for  its  invention  and  for  many  parts  of  its 
design,  would  be  creditable  to  any  exhibition.  In  idea  it  forms  a 
fitting  pendent  to  Mr.  Herbert's  Christ  subject  to  his  Parents  at 
Nazareth.  A  legend  may  possibly  have  suggested  to  Mr.  Rossetti 
also  the  subject  of  his  present  work  [I  am  sure  this  was  not  the 
fact].  The  Virgin  is,  in  this  picture,  represented  as  living  amongst 
her  family,  and  engaged  in  the  task  of  embroidering  drapery — to 
supply  possibly  some  future  sacred  vestment  [no  such  intention]. 
The  picture,  which  is  full  of  allegory,  has  much  of  that  sacred 
mysticism  inseparable  from  the  works  of  the  early  masters,  and 
much  of  the  tone  of  the  poets  of  the  same  time.  While  immature 
practice  is  visible  in  the  executive  department  of  the  work,  every 
allusion  gives  evidence  of  maturity  of  thought — every  detail  that 
might  enrich  or  amplify  the  subject  has  found  a  place  in  it.  The 
personification  of  the  Virgin  is  an  achievement  worthy  of  an  older 
hand.  Its  spiritualized  attributes,  and  the  great  sensibility  with 
which  it  is  wrought,  inspire  the  expectation  that  Mr.  Rossetti  will 


148  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTT. 

continue  to  pursue  the  lofty  career  which  he  has  here  so  successfully 
begun.  The  sincerity  and  earnestness  of  the  picture  remind  us 
forcibly  of  the  feeling  with  which  the  early  Florentine  monastic 
painters  wrought ;  and  the  form  and  face  of  the  Virgin  recall  the 
words  employed  by  Savonarola  in  one  of  his  powerful  sermons : 
'Or  pensa  quanta  bellezza  avea  la  Vergine,  che  aveatanta  santita 
che  risplendeva  in  quella  faccia  della  quale  dice  San  Tommaso  che 
nessuno  che  la  vedesse  mai  la  guardb  per  concupiscenza,  tanta  era 
la  santita  che  rilustrava  in  lei.'  Mr.  Rossetti  has,  perhaps  un- 
knowingly, entered  into  the  feelings  of  the  renowned  Dominican, 
who  in  his  day  wrought  as  much  reform  in  Art  as  in  morals.  The 
coincidence  is  of  high  value  to  the  picture." 

The  whole  transaction  with  The  Girlhood  of  Mary  Virgin, 
considered  as  a  first  picture,  was  a  most  encouraging  success. 
Rossetti  hung  it  at  his  own  discretion  ;  he  was  complimented 
by  the  press  ;  his  sonnets  passed  not  unnoticed,  Sir  Theodore 
Martin  in  especial  being  singularly  struck  by  them  ;  and  he 
sold  the  painting  promptly  for  his  own  price  of  £%o.  The 
purchaser  was  the  Marchioness  Dowager  of  Bath,  in  whose 
family  our  aunt,  Charlotte  Polidori,  was  governess,  and  after- 
wards companion.  The  Marchioness  after  a  while  presented 
the  picture  to  her  daughter  Lady  Louisa  Feilding.  With  this 
lady  the  work  remained  until  a  recent  date.  Who  the  present 
owner  may  be  I  know  not.  After  getting  it  back  from 
the  exhibition  Dante  painted  a  fresh  head  to  the  girl-angel. 
By  25  August  he  despatched  her  purchase  to  Lady  Bath. 
Perhaps  the  best  success  of  all  was  that,  in  1864,  receiving  the 
picture  for  re-framing,  he  found  it  to  be  "  a  long  way  better 
than  he  thought."  "  It  quite  surprised  me  (and  shamed  me 
a  little)  to  see  what  I  did  fifteen  years  ago,"  is  an  expression 
in  one  of  his  letters. 

It  has  appeared  to  me  no  other  than  requisite  to  dwell  at 
some  length  on  the  early  years  of  my  brother — his  family 
surroundings,  his  beginnings  in  drawing  and  writing,  his 
sympathies  for  painters  and  authors,  his  studies,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  his  professional  practice.  We  have  now  reached 
the  point  where  he  is  an  exhibiting  and  well-accepted  painter, 


THE   GERM.  1 49 

and  a  poet  of  considerable  though  as  yet  not  public  per- 
formance. Were  I  to  pursue  with  equal  minuteness  his 
doings  from  year  to  year  in  art  and  in  literature,  I  should 
exceed  the  bounds  which  I  contemplate — should  perhaps 
exceed  any  reasonable  bounds.  Many  matters  remain  which 
will  require  copious  and  free  treatment ;  but  I  do  not  propose 
to  turn  this  Memoir  into  an  accurate — still  less  an  exhaustive — 
record  of  all  the  pictures  and  designs,  and  all  the  writings, 
which  he  continued  to  produce  from  year  to  year.  Some 
things  stand  out  as  landmarks  or  milestones  in  his  career,  and 
these  will  receive  due  consideration  ;  others  will  be-  passed 
over  or  summarized.  Besides,  I  have  already  produced  a 
book,  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  as  Designer  and  Writer}  giving 
in  chronological  order  a  great  number  of  details,  major  and 
minor,  about  his  performances,  their  sales  and  purchasers,  etc. 
etc.  ;  and  some  readers  of  the  present  narrative,  feeling  any 
interest  in  those  particulars,  can  supplement,  by  reference  to 
that  volume,  anything  which  they  may  hold  to  be  deficient 
in  this.  My  present  scope  is  wider  and  more  personal.  The 
things  which  Dante  Rossetti  produced  will  indeed  be  of 
primary  importance  to  it  ;  but  rather  as  being  a  symptom 
and  outcome  of  his  personality — a  portion  of  his  life — than  as 
forming  my  main  subject-matter. 

XV. 

THE   GERM. 

If  Dante  Rossetti  cannot  rightly  be  credited  (in  derogation 
of  Hunt  and  Millais)  with  inventing  the  Praeraphaelite  move- 
ment and  Brotherhood,  a  very  significant  enterprize,  he 
certainly  can  be  credited  with  inventing  The  Germ.  He  was 
eager  to  distinguish  himself  in  literature,  no  less  than  painting, 
and  wanted  to  have  some  safe  vehicle  both  for  ushering  his 
writings  before  the  public,  and  for  diffusing  abroad  the  Prasra- 
phaelite  principles  in  art.     I  feel  pretty  sure  that  at  first  every 

1  Published  by  Cassell  &  Co.,  1889.     It  is  now  out  of  print. 


150  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

one  of  his  colleagues  regarded  the  enterprize  as  rash,  costly, 
foredoomed  to  failure,  and  an  interruption  to  other  more 
pressing  and  less  precarious  work.  But  Rossetti  was  not  to 
be  denied.  The  magazine  was  enacted  in  his  mind  ;  it  was  to 
be,  and  was  to  enlist  the  energies  of  all  the  P.R.B.'s,  and  of 
some  other  persons  as  well.  With  varying  degrees  of  reluct- 
ance his  friends  yielded.  As  the  project  progressed,  some  of 
them  seem  even  to  have  yielded  with  willing  assent.  Among 
these,  Hunt,  Woolner,  and  myself,  may  have  stood  foremost. 

The  "  P.R.B.  Diary"  shall  be  my  chief  guide  in  relating  the 
history- of  The  Germ;  several  relevant  details  will  be  found 
also  in  the  Family-letters.  The  first  entry  which  I  find  bearing 
upon  this  subject  is  dated  13  July  1849,  and  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  In  the  evening  Gabriel  and  I  went  to  Woolner's  with  the  view  of 
seeing  North  (whom  however  we  did  not  find  at  home)  about  a 
project  for  a  monthly  sixpenny  magazine,  for  which  four  or  five  of 
us  would  write,  and  one  make  an  etching — each  subscribing  a 
guinea,  and  thus  becoming  a  proprietor.  [As  to  North — a  very 
familiar  figure  in  those  days  with  Woolner,  Dante,  and  myself,  but 
scarcely  so  with  the  other  P.R.B.'s — some  particulars  will  be  found 
in  my  note  to  Letter  C  8.]  The  full  discussion  of  the  subject  is 
fixed  for  to-morrow  at  Woolner's." 

The  title  first  thought  of  was  Monthly  Thoughts  in  Litera- 
ture, Poetry,  and  Art;  and  it  was  immediately  projected  to 
increase  the  magazine  to  forty  pages,  two  etchings,  and  a 
price  of  one  shilling.  On  23  September,  being  in  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  I  received  a  letter  informing  me  that  I  was  appointed 
Editor,  "  as  difficulties  in  keeping  back  the  ardour  of  our  new 
proprietors  [not  all  of  them  P.R.B.'s]  began  to  rise  up  "  ;  and 
a  prospectus  had  been  sent  off  to  the  printer's,  with  the  title 
altered  to  Thoughts  towards  Nature,  which  was  Dante's  idea. 
Messrs.  Aylott  &  Jones,  of  Paternoster  Row,  were  selected 
as  publishers.  Soon  afterwards  a  different  title  was  proposed, 
The  P.R.B.  Journal;  but  to  this  I  objected,  partly  on  the 
ground  that  some  of  the  writers,  and  even  of  the  proprietors, 


THE  GERM.  1 51 

would  not  belong  to  the  Brotherhood.  In  November  we 
resolved  to  do  no  advertizing,  owing  to  the  expense.  This 
decision  was  almost,  yet  not  absolutely,  adhered  to.  There 
was  some  small  amount  of  ordinary  advertizing  ;  and  in  May 
placards  were  posted  and  carried  about  in  front  of  the 
Academy  exhibition. 

We  now  come  to  December,  the  month  which  was  to  be 
devoted  to  the  printing  of  our  opening  number,  so  that  it 
might  appear  at  the  close  of  that  month,  or  the  beginning 
of  January.  On  17  December  Rossetti  resumed  writing  his 
prose  story  Hand  and  Soul,  for  our  No.  1  ;  on  the  21st  he 
was  at  it  all  day  and  all  night,1  and  finished  the  nar- 
rative— the  epilogue  remaining  over  till  the  following  day. 
Meanwhile,  on  the  19th,  there  had  been  a  meeting  of  no 
small  moment  to  us  at  his  studio — which  was,  since  10  October, 
No.  72  Newman  Street,  the  rent  £26  per  annum.  We  had 
finally  to  decide  upon  the  title  of  our  magazine  ;  and  the 
company  consisted  not  only  of  the  seven  members  of  the 
Brotherhood,  but  also  of  the  painters  Madox  Brown,  Cave 
Thomas,  and  Deverell,  the  sculptor  Hancock,  and  two 
brothers  Tupper.  One  of  these,  George,  was  a  partner  in 
the  Firm  which  had  undertaken  to  print  the  magazine.  The 
other,  John  Lucas,  who  had  been  an  Academy-student  well 
known  to  Hunt,  and  aiming  at  sculpture  rather  than  painting) 
was  now  Anatomical  Designer  at  Guy's  Hospital,  and  later 
on  he  became  Drawing-master  at  Rugby  School,  where  he 
died  in  1879 — a  very  capable  conscientious  man,  quite  as 
earnest  after  truth  in  form  and  presentment  as  any  P.R.B., 
learned  in  his  department  of  art,  and  with  a  real  gift  for 
poetry,  which  received  partial  expression,  and  as  yet,  it  may 
be  feared,  next  to  no  recognition.2    The  title  Thoughts  towards 

1  So  stated  in  the  P.R.B.  Diary;  Dante  Rossetti,  in  my  Section  43,  gives 
a  slightly  different  account. 

2  I  believe  he  has  left  a  large  quantity  of  unprinted  verse  and  prose. 
Some  of  it  ought  to  be  published.  He  issued  anonymously  a  noticeable 
book,  1869,  entitled  Hiatus,  the  Void  in  Modem  Education,  by  Outis 
There  was  a  little  lyric  of  Tupper's  on  the  Garden  of  Eden   in  ruinous 


152  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Nature  was  not  viewed  with  much  predilection.  Mr.  Cave 
Thomas  had  some  while  before  proposed  The  Seed]  and  he 
now  offered  (with  others)  two  new  names,  The  Scroll,  and 
The  Germ.  The  last  was  ultimately  approved  by  a  vote  of 
six  to  four. 

The   Germ   No.    I  appeared  on  or  about  I  January  1850. 
I    do  not  propose  to  go  minutely  into  the  contents  of  the 
magazine — still   less   into   its  merits    and   demerits  ;  but,   as 
regards  No.  1,  I  may  perhaps  as  well  recite  the  full  contents. 
No  authors'  names  were  here  given  (a  point  contrary  to  my 
liking)  ;  but  in  subsequent  numbers  some   names,  and  also 
some   pseudonyms,    were  supplied  on  the  wrappers.     No.   1 
opens  with  Woolner's  poem  My  Beautiful  Lady,  and  Of  my 
Lady  in  Death,   accompanied  by  an  etching  by  Hunt,  con- 
sisting of  two  separate  compositions.     Then  come — The  Love 
of  Beauty,   sonnet,  by  Madox  Brown  ;   The  Subject   in  Art, 
No.   1,  by  J.  L.  Tupper  ;   The  Seasons,  by  Coventry  Patmore 
(known  first  to   Woolner,  and  by  this   time  to  most  of  us)  ; 
Dreamland,  by  Christina  Rossetti ;  My  Sister's  Sleep  (being 
No.  1  of  Songs  of  one  Household),  by  Dante  Rossetti  ;  Hand 
and  Soul,  by  the  same  ;  a  Review,   by  myself,  of  Clough's 
poem,  The  Bothie  of  Toper  na  Fuosich  ( Toper-na-  Vuolich  in 
later  issues)  ;  Her  First  Season,  sonnet,  also  by  myself;  A 
Sketch  from   Nature,   by  J.    L.   Tupper  ;  and   An  End,  by 
Christina    Rossetti.     On  the  first  page  of  the  wrapper  was 
a   sonnet,  my  performance,   intended  to    indicate    the  point 
of  view   from   which   the    Prseraphaelites    contemplated   the 
expression  of  ideas,  and  the  record  of  appearances,  whether 
in  literature  or  in  art.     The  last  page  contained  a  slight  pro- 
gramme of  what  the  nature  of  the  contents  of  the  magazine 
generally  would  be.     I  cannot  say  that  it  is  effectively  done, 
nor  do  I  now  remember  who  did  it.     I  incline  to  think  that 
Dante  Rossetti  made  the  first  draft,  which,  being  freely  over- 
decay,  of  which  Dante  Rossetti  thought  very  highly.     He  compared  it  to 
Ebenezer  Jones's  lyric,  "  When  the  world  is  burning"  ;  and  said  that,  had 
it  been   the  writing  of  Edgar  Poe,  it  would    have   enjoyed  world-wide 
celebrity. 


THE   GERM.  I  53 

hauled  by  others,  got  muddled  more  or  less.  It  contains  the 
following  deliverance  regarding  Fine  Art — a  deliverance 
which  shows  to  a  certain  extent  the  principle  of  the  P.R.B., 
but  in  a  very  meagre  and  stunted  condition  : — 

"The  endeavour  held  in  view  throughout  the  writings  on  Art  will 
be  to  encourage  and  enforce  an  entire  adherence  to  the  simplicity 
of  Nature ;  and  also  to  direct  attention,  as  an  auxiliary  medium,  to 
the  comparatively  few  works  which  Art  has  yet  produced  in  this 
spirit." 

A  different  programme — which  was  not  however  much 
more  than  a  topsy-turvy  of  the  original  one — appeared  on 
the  wrappers  of  Nos.  3  and  4,  which  were  less  directly  under 
the  control  of  myself  as  editor,  or  of  the  other  members  of 
the  Brotherhood. 

The  issue  of  No.  1  of  The  Germ  was  700  copies,  for  No.  2 
only  500.  About  100  of  No.  1  were  sold  by  the  publishers, 
besides  nearly  or  quite  as  many  through  our  own  exertions 
among  friends  and  sympathizers  ;  No.  2  went  off  even  less 
well  than  this.  There  was  a'  fancy  in  our  circle  for  speaking 
of  the  magazine  as  "  The  Gurm."  I  am  not  quite  sure  how 
this  originated,  but  believe  that  some  outsider,  seeing  the 
magazine  in  a  shop,  and  not  realizing  to  himself  what  the 
title  meant,  asked  for  it  in  that  form  of  pronunciation.  For 
Nos.  3  and  4,  which  were  brought  out  at  the  risk  of  our 
friendly  printing-firm,  a  new  title,  Art  and  Poetry,  was  in- 
vented by  a  member  of  the  firm,  Mr.  Alexander  Tupper.  I 
hardly  know  how  these  numbers  sold,  but  am  sure  it  was  very 
little.  With  No.  4,  issued  towards  the  close  of  April  1850, 
the  magazine  came  to  an  end.  If  not  before,  it  was  behind, 
its  time.  There  were  some  laudatory  notices  of  the  various 
parts — in  The  Dispatch,  John  Bull,  The  Guardian,  The  Critic, 
Howitt's  Standard  of  Freedom  ;  a  faintly  patronizing  one  in 
the  Art  Journal,  which  disappointed  us,  as  the  editor,  Mr.  S. 
Carter  Hall  (whom  Madox  Brown  was  wont  to  call  "  Shirt- 
Collar  Hall,"  as  designating  the  high  respectability  of  his 
exterior)  had  previously  written  to  one  of  us  speaking  of  our 


154  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

band  as  "  the  future  great  artists  of  the  age  and  country  "  ; 
others  in  The  Morning  Chronicle,  The  Spectator,  and  else- 
where. After  balancing  receipts  and  expenditure,  we  had  to 
meet  a  printer's  bill  of  ,£33  odd.  This  seems  now  a  very 
moderate  burden  ;  but  it  was  none  the  less  a  troublesome  one 
to  all  or  most  of  us  at  that  period.  In  course  of  time  it  was 
cleared  off,  with  the  result — perhaps  a  salutary  one — that 
none  of  us  ever  again  made  any  proposal  for  publishing  a 
magazine.  For  many  years  past  The  Germ  has  been  a 
literary  curiosity,  fetching  high  fancy-prices  ;  and  more 
publishers  than  one  have  made  proposals  for  re-printing  it, 
but,  owing  to  the  dissent  of  one  or  other  contributor,  these 
proposals  have  had  to  be  set  aside.  Even  a  single  contribu- 
tion to  The  Germ — the  Hand  and  Soul  of  Dante  Rossetti,  as 
privately  re-printed  towards  1869 — has  been  priced  at  no  less 
than  six  guineas. 

I  will  add  here  a  couple  of  anecdotes  about  Hand  and  Soul, 
which  is,  from  all  points  of" view,  a  very  interesting  specimen 
of  my  brother's  early  work.  The  motto  on  my  title-page  is 
taken  from  it,  and  seems  to  me  very  appropriate,  both  to  my 
brother's  intrinsic  quality  as  painter  and  poet,  and  to  the 
material  of  these  volumes.  Readers  of  this  tale  may 
remember  that  it  relates  to  a  supposed  Italian  painter  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  Chiaro  dell'  Erma,  who  in  1239  saw  his 
own  soul  in  a  visible  female  form,  and  painted  her  ;  a  matter, 
by  the  way,  which  shows  that  Rossetti's  knowledge  of  art- 
history  was  at  this  period  extremely  slight  (unless  indeed  he 
voluntarily  chose  to  go  wrong,  in  the  interest  of  his  idea  for 
the  story),  as  it  is  totally  impossible  that,  at  so  remote  a  date 
as  1239,  any  painter  whatever  should  have  produced  a  work 
at  all  corresponding  with  the  details  given  concerning  this 
picture.  The  Epilogue  to  the  tale  is  written  in  a  highly 
realistic  tone,  and  contains  many  particulars  about  the  picture, 
purporting  for  instance  that  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  Pitti 
Gallery  of  Florence  (had  Rossetti  known  more  about  the 
likelihoods  of  such  a  case,  he  would  have  substituted  the 
Accademia).      There  was  a  young  lady  of  some  fortune  in 


THE   GERM.  I  55 

Worcestershire — Kidderminster,  I  think — who  became  the 
first  wife  of  the  landscape-painter  Mr.  Andrew  McCallum  ; 
one  of  the  prettiest  and  pleasantest  little  women  I  ever  saw, 
with  a  most  beaming  splendid  pair  of  eyes.  She  read  Hand 
and  Soul  in  The  Germ,  admired  it,  and  believed  it  to  be 
substantially  true.  Either  before  or  after  her  marriage  she 
was  in  Florence,  and  enquired  at  the  Pitti  for  this  picture, 
and  was  grievously  disconcerted  to  find  that  nobody  knew 
anything  about  it.  In  Mr.  Sharp's  book  there  is  a  story  of 
some  other  lady  who,  at  a  much  later  date,  professed  to 
Rossetti  that  she  had  actually  seen  the  picture  at  the  Pitti, 
adding  other  relevant  but  not  rigidly  veracious  details.  This 
story  also  may  be  true  ;  but  I  know  (or  at  any  rate  remember) 
nothing  about  it,  whereas  I  do  know  the  story  about  Mrs. 
McCallum  to  be  correct.  My  second  anecdote  relates  to  an 
etching  which  my  brother  undertook  to  do  for  The  Germ. 
It  has  been  more  than  once  stated  in  print  that  this  etching 
was  to  illustrate  a  different  tale  which  he  began  writing, 
called  An  Autopsy  chology,  suggested  to  him  by  an  image  of 
his  own  introduced  into  his  poem  The  Brides  Prelude.  The 
tale  was  not  finished,  but  its  beginning  appears  in  his 
Collected  Works,  under  the  title  St.  Agnes  of  Intercession. 
The  fact  is  that  Millais  offered  to  do  for  The  Germ  an  etching 
for  The  AutopsycJiology ;  and  he  did  it,  and  prints  from  the 
etching  are  still  in  existence.  But  the  etching  which  Dante 
contemplated  was  for  Hand  and  Soul,  to  be  published  in  a 
number  of  The  Germ  later  than  that  in  which  the  tale  itself 
had  appeared.  This  etching — representing  Chiaro  in  the  act 
of  painting  his  Soul — he  drew  in  March  1850,  and  he  got  it 
bitten-in  by  Mr.  Shenton  the  engraver  ;  but,  upon  seeing  a 
print  of  it  on  28  March,  he  was  so  displeased  with  the  result 
that,  in  his  vehement  mood,  he  tore  up  the  impression,  and 
scratched  the  plate  over.  I  hardly  think  that  I  ever  saw  the 
design  ;  would  gladly  do  so  now,  were  that  but  possible. 

Though  I  do  not  want  to  dwell  at  any  further  length  upon 
The  Germ,  I  will  specify  the  contributions  of  Dante  Rossetti 
to  Nos.  2,  3,  and  4.     They  are — The  Blessed  Damozel,  The 


156  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTl. 

Carillon,  From  the  Cliffs — Noon,  Pax  Vobis,  and  six  Somiets 
for  Pictures  (Memling,  Mantegna,  Giorgione,  and  Ingres).1 
The  Blessed  Damosel,  as  I  have  said,  had  been  written  in  his 
nineteenth  year.  Of  that  first  form  of  the  poem  no  copy 
appears  to  be  now  extant.  Before  printing  it  in  The  Germ 
he  added  four  stanzas.  I  might  make  some  guess  as  to 
which  they  are  ;  but  it  would  only  be  a  guess,  and  it  shall 
not  here  trouble  my  readers. 

Perhaps  some  of  them  might  be  amused  to  hear  the  dirge 
of  The  Germ,  as  it  was  chanted  at  the  time  by  Mr.  John 
Tupper. 

"  Dedicated  to  the  P.R.B.  on  the  Death  of  '  The  Germ,'  otherwise 
known  as  '  Art  and  Poetry.' 

"  Bring  leaves  of  yew  to  intertwine 

With  '  leaves  '  that  evermore  are  dead, 
Those  leaves  as  pallid-hued  as  you 

Who  wrote  them  never  to  be  read  : 

And  let  them  hang  across  a  thread 
Of  funeral-hemp,   that,  hanging  so, 
Made  vocal  if  a  wind  should  blow, 

Their  requiem  shall  be  anthemed. 

"  Ah  rest,  dead  leaves  ! — Ye  cannot  rest 

Now  ye  are  in  your  second  state ; 

Your  first  was  rest  so  perfect,  fate 
Denies  you  what  ye  then  possessed. 
For  you,  was  not  a  world  of  strife, 

And  seldom  were  ye  seen  of  men  : 
If  death  be  the  reverse  of  life, 

You  never  will  have  peace  again. 

"  Come,  Early  Christians,  bring  a  knife, 

And  cut  these  woful  pages  down  : 

Ye  would  not  have  them  haunt  the  town 
Where  butter  or  where  cheese  is  rife  ! 

No,  make  them  in  a  foolscap-crown 
For  all  whose  inexperience  utter 

Believes  High  Art  can  once  go  down 
Without  considerable  butter. 


1  Mr.  W.  M.   Hardinge  published,   in  Temple  Bar,  a  very  suggestive 
article  on  these  sonnets. 


PAINTINGS   AND   WRITINGS,    1 849— 53.  I  57 

"  Or  cut  them  into  little  squares 

To  curl  the  long  locks  of  those  Brothers 

Prseraphaelite  who  have  long  hairs — 

Tremendous  long,  compared  with  others.1 

As  dust  should  still   return  to  dust, 
The  P.R.B.   shall  say  its  prayers 
That  come  it  will  or  come  it  must — a 

"  A  time  Sordello  shall  be  read, 

And  arguments  be  clean  abolished, 
And  sculpture  punched   upon   the  head, 

And  mathematics  quite  demolished  ; 
And  Art  and  Poetry  instead 

Come  out  without  a  word  of  prose  in, 
And  all  who  paint  as  Sloshua  did 

Have  all  their  sloshy  fingers  frozen."3 


XVI. 
PAINTINGS  AND    WRITINGS,    1849—53. 

From  the  early  autumn  of  1849  to  the  late  spring  of  1850 
was  a  busy  time  with  Dante  Rossetti.  Besides  all  the 
eagerness  of  planning  and  the  flurry  of  working  for  The 
Germ,  there  was  his  small  continental  trip  with  Holman 
Hunt  in  the  autumn,  along  with  the  production  of  a  new 
picture  for  exhibition.  Of  the  continental  trip  his  Family- 
letters    bear   ample    record    in    prose    and    verse.      It  was  a 

1  This,  I  suppose,  is  a  hit  at  my  brother  and  Stephens,  rather  than 
other  members  of  the  P.R.B.  The  after  reference  to  abolishing  arguments 
and  mathematics,  and  disliking  sculpture,  would  also  relate  principally  to 
my  brother.  He  did  not  really  dislike  sculpture,  but  he  much  preferred 
painting. 

2  A  line  seems  to  be  wanting  in  this  stanza.  I  am  copying  from  a 
transcript  made  at  the  time  by  myself,  but  I  don't  think  the  oversight 
can  be  mine. 

3  I  have  noted  elsewhere  that  "slosh"  was  a  term  much  in  vogue  with 
the  Praeraphaelites  in  their  early  days,  to  indicate  a  hasty,  washy,  in- 
determinate manner  in  painting,  neglectful  of  severe  form  and  accurate 
detail,  and  lavish  of  unctuous  vehicle.  "Sloshua"  was  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  (!) 


I  58  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

valuable  experience  to  him,  but  not  one  which  he  unreservedly- 
enjoyed.  He  liked  England  and  the  English  better  than 
any  other  country  and  nation  ;  and  he  never  crossed  the  sea 
without  severe  discomfort,  or  contemplated  the  crossing  of 
it  without  repulsion.  The  few  acquaintances  that  he  made 
abroad  played  no  part  in  his  after-life.  Strange  to  say,  this 
small  trip  to  Paris  and  Belgium  was  the  longest,  in  point  of 
duration  and  space  combined,  that  he  ever  undertook. 

I  shall  give  here  a  brief  account  of  the  painting  and  design- 
ing work  of  Rossetti  between  the  date  in  1849  when  he 
exhibited  his  first  picture,  and  the  date  in  1854,  13  April, 
when  Mr.  Ruskin  became  personally  known  to  him  ;  followed 
by  a  similar  summary  of  his  writing-work  between  the  same 
dates.     I  name  both  in  order  of  time  as  nearly  as  I  can. 

There  was  the  beginning  of  a  large  oil-picture,  with 
numerous  figures,  from  a  song  in  Browning's  dramatic  poem 
Pippa  Passes,  entitled  Hist,  said  Kate  the  Queen.  It  was  not 
finished,  but  a  water-colour  of  the  full  composition  exists. 
A  pen-and-ink  drawing,  1849,  given  to  Millais,  of  Dante 
drawing  an  Angel  in  Memory  of  Beatrice — quite  a  different 
design  from  the  subsequent  water-colour,  1853,  of  the  same 
subject.  This  pen-and-ink  drawing  is  perhaps  more  decidedly 
marked  by  the  "  Prasraphaelite "  peculiarities  of  that  date 
than  anything  else  which  Rossetti  produced  ;  it  is  likewise 
his  earliest  subject  taken  from  the  Vita  Nuova,  to  which  he 
so  frequently  recurred  afterwards.  The  Laboratory  (from 
Browning's  poem),  which  may  be  called  his  first  water-colour. 
The  pen-and-ink  design  Hesterna  Rosa,  with  a  motto  from 
a  song  in  Henry  Taylor's  Philip  van  Artevelde.  The  oil- 
picture,  his  second  exhibited  work,  Ecce  Ancilla  Domini  (or 
The  Annunciation),  now  in  the  National  Gallery.  The  land- 
scape of  trees  etc.  which  he  painted  at  Sevenoaks,  while 
Mr.  Hunt  was  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  in  the  very  rainy 
autumn  of  1850.  I  cannot  recollect  what  was  to  have  been 
the  subject  of  this  oil-picture.  Long  afterwards,  1872,  he 
completed  it  under  the  title  of  The  Bower-meadow.  A  water- 
colour,  Beatrice  at  a  Marriage-feast  denies  Dante  her  Salutation, 


PAINTINGS   AND   WRITINGS,    1 849  — 53.  I  59 

exhibited.  The  pen-and-ink  design,  How  they  met  Themselves 
— a  lover  and  his  lady  encountering  their  own  wraiths  in  a 
forest,  an  incident  ominous  of  approaching  death.  A  crayon 
portrait  of  William  Bell  Scott.  An  exhibited  water-colour, 
Giotto  painting  the  Portrait  of  Dante.  The  scene,  water- 
colour,  from  Dante's  Purgatorio,  where  Beatrice  says,  "  Guar- 
dami  ben,  ben  son  ben  son  Beatrice "  He  repeated  this 
subject  more  than  once,  but  always,  I  think,  in  varying 
compositions.  A  very  interesting  attempt  at  the  beginning 
of  1853,  not  long  persisted  in,  being  an  oil-picture  in  two 
compartments,  life-sized  half-figures,  representing  Dante's 
resolve  to  write  the  Comedia  in  memory  of  Beatrice.  A 
pencil-head  of  Holman  Hunt.  The  elaborate  pen-and-ink 
design  (begun  in  1853,  but  not  finished  till  1858)  of  Mary 
Magdalene  at  the  Door  of  Simon  the  Pharisee.  The  beginning 
of  the  oil-picture  named  Found. 

These  are  the  chief,  but  by  no  means  the  only,  products 
of  the  years  of  which  we  are  speaking.  They  show  a  con- 
siderable range  in  choice  of  subject  and  mode  of  treatment. 
Regarding  execution,  it  may  be  said  in  general  terms  that 
Rossetti  continued  to  progress,  both  in  force  and  in  facility, 
but  did  not  evince  any  great  disposition  for  attaining  strenuous 
mastery  in  draughtsmanship,  or  resource  in  the  management 
of  perspective,  or  of  architectural  or  landscape  accessory. 
As  to  draughtsmanship  of  human  and  animal  form,  he  of 
course  always  recognized  the  high  importance  of  this,  whether 
he  fully  achieved  it  or  not.  But  for  the  other  matters  he 
retained  till  the  last  a  large  measure  of  personal  indifference, 
though  necessarily  conscious — none  more  so — that  these  also 
are  required  in  order  to  make  a  picture  conformable  to  the 
modern  standard.  The  fact  is  that  he  preferred  the  tone  of 
mind  which  governed  the  treatment  of  such  elements  of  the 
subject  in  Olden  art.  That  they  should  convey  their  message 
in  a  suggestive  way  he  thought  fully  requisite  ;  that  they 
should  be  rigorously  realized  by  scientific  rule  or  naturalistic 
presentment  he  did  not  care  ;  and,  if  under  a  system  of  that 
sort  they  usurped  the  place  of  the  main  idea  or  of  human 


l60  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

emotion  and  expressional  force,  he  wished  them  well  away. 
I  do  not  aver  that  he  was  right  in  this  view — the  reader 
may  judge  for  himself — but  only  that  his  view  it  assuredly 
was. 

As  to  five  of  these  works  I  may  add  a  few  details. 

For  Ecce  Ancilla  Domini  Rossetti  began  a  sketch  on  25 
October  1849.  To  supplement  this  picture  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion he  intended  to  execute  a  companion-subject,  the  Death  of 
the  Virgin.  The  latter  he  never  even  began,  having  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  such  themes  were  "  not  for  the  market." 
Both  pictures  were  to  be  chiefly  white  in  hue.  For  the 
Annunciation — "  The  Virgin,"  so  he  told  me,  "  is  to  be  in  bed, 
but  without  any  bedclothes  on,  an  arrangement  which  may 
be  justified  in  consideration  of  the  hot  climate  ;  and  the 
Angel  Gabriel  is  to  be  presenting  a  lily  to  her."  This  last 
point  connects  the  picture  with  The  GirlJwod  of  Mary  Virgin  ; 
and  the  remark  as  to  bedclothes  testifies  that,  even  in  so  ideal 
a  subject  as  this,  Rossetti  was  not  unheedful  of  the  Prae- 
raphaelite  doctrine  that  the  treatment  should  be  consistent 
with  probable  facts.  More  persons  than  one  sat  for  the  head 
of  the  Angel — two  models  named  Maitland  and  Lambert,  and 
myself,  at  any  rate  ;  for  the  Virgin's  head,  Christina,  and  also 
a  Miss  Love,  who  was  I  suppose  a  model.  The  head 
resembles  Christina  sufficiently  to  be  accounted  a  likeness, 
but  it  is  less  like  her  than  the  head  in  The  Girlhood  of  Mary 
Virgin.  Rossetti  had  all  along  purposed  sending  this  picture 
to  the  Royal  Academy ;  but  at  the  last  moment  he  altered 
his  mind,  and  recurred  to  the  National  Institution  (Free 
Exhibition).  Its  price  was  .£50,  but  it  remained  unsold  until 
the  opening  of  1853  ;  when  Mr.  Francis  McCracken,  a  ship- 
owner or  packing-agent  of  Belfast,  prompted  by  a  friendly 
suggestion  from  Holman  Hunt  (from  whom  and  from  Madox 
Brown  he  had  already  bought  some  works),  became  the 
purchaser.  At  the  end  of  1850,  on  receiving  the  picture  back 
from  the  National  Institution,  my  brother  again  worked  upon 
it,  improving  it  materially  by  showing  the  Angel's  left  hand — 
for  at  first  the  Angel,  like  the  Virgin  herself,  had  only  one 


PAINTINGS   AND   WRITINGS,    1 849— 53.  161 

hand  visible.  He  did  some  further  work  when  Mr.  McCracken 
settled  to  buy  the  picture  ;  and  to  him  he  despatched  it  on 
29  January  1853,  altering  the  Latin  title  into  The  Annunciation, 
as  a  precaution  against  any  charges  (then  equally  rife  and 
gratuitous)  of  "  popery."  "  The  blessed  white  eyesore  "  and 
"  the  blessed  white  daub  "  had  come  to  be  his  terms  for  this 
now  national  possession,  so  long  left  on  his  hands.  But  his 
real  sentiment  on  a  question  of  art-work  may  have  received 
truer  expression  in  one  of  his  Family-letters  (September  1853) 
— "  I  shall  never,  I  suppose,  get  over  the  weakness  of  making 
a  thing  as  good  as  I  can  manage."  Even  as  late  as  1874 
something  was  again  done  to  the  "  white  daub,"  but  I  think 
very  little.  He  wrote  :  "  It  is  best  left  alone,  except  just  for 
a  touch  or  two.  Indeed,  my  impression  on  seeing  it  was  that 
I  couldn't  do  quite  so  well  now  ! " 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  very  different  reception  which 
the  Praeraphaelite  pictures  of  1850  encountered  from  artists, 
press,  and  public,  from  that  which  had  been  accorded  to  the 
works  of  1849.  The  pictures  were  still  signed  "  P.R.B.  "  ;  and 
my  brother  had  explained  to  his  friend  the  sculptor  Alexander 
Munro  the  meaning  of  those  mysterious  initials,  which  were 
not  intended  to  be  unduly  pressed  upon  the  attention  of 
Academicians.  Munro,  a  man  of  easy  access  to  all  sorts  of 
people,  divulged  the  matter  to  a  brother-Scotchman,  Angus 
Reach,1  who  was  a  light  writer  of  those  days  ;  and  the  latter 
published  it  in  the  Illustrated  London  News.  Hence  much  of 
the  fluster,  and  much  of  the  virulence.  When  Ecce  Ancilla 
Domini  appeared  in  the  National  Institution,  prior  to  the 
opening  of  the  Royal  Academy,  the  Athenmim  came  down 
upon  it  on  20  April,  in  the  following  terms — and  even  these 

1  I  need  scarcely  say  that  I  bear  no  sort  of  grudge  against  Mr.  Reach, 
who  died  a  great  number  of  years  ago  ;  but,  to  give  my  reader  a  moment's 
amusement,  I  will  here  retail  a  joke  of  Douglas  Jerrold's  which  had,  so  far  as 
I  know,  not  yet  got  into  print.  Reach  is  a  Gaelic  name,  properly  pronounced 
as  a  dissyllable,  Ree-ach ;  but  naturally  Londoners  were  wont  to  read  it 
as  a  monosyllable,  Reech.  Jerrold,  being  admonished  to  pronounce  the 
name  accurately,  rejoined — "  He  is  Ree-ach  if  you  hear  him,  but  Reech 
[retch,  spue]  if  you  read  him." 

VOL.   I.  II 


l62  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

were  mild  in  comparison  with  what  befell  the  Christian 
Missionary  persecuted  by  the  Druids  of  Holman  Hunt,  and 
the  so-called  Carpenter's  Shop  of  Millais  : — 

"  But  what  shall  we  say  of  a  work  hanging  by  the  side  of  Mr. 
Newenham's  historical  picture — which  we  notice  less  for  its  merits 
than  as  an  example  of  the  perversion  of  talent  which  has  recently 
been  making  so  much  way  in  our  school  of  art,  and  wasting  the 
energies  of  some  of  our  most  promising  aspirants  ?  We  allude  to 
the  Ecce  Ancilla  Domini  of  Mr.  D.  G.  Rossetti  (225).  Here  a 
certain  amount  of  talent  is  distorted  from  its  legitimate  course  by  a 
prominent  crotchet.  Ignoring  all  that  has  made  the  art  great  in  the 
works  of  the  greatest  masters,  the  school  to  which  Mr.  Rossetti 
belongs  would  begin  the  work  anew,  and  accompany  the  faltering 
steps  of  its  earliest  explorers.  This  is  archaeology  turned  from  its 
legitimate  uses,  and  made  into  a  mere  pedant.  Setting  at  nought  all 
the  advanced  principles  of  light  and  shade,  colour,  and  composition, 
these  men,  professing  to  look  only  to  Nature  in  its  truth  and  sim- 
plicity, are  the  slavish  imitators  of  artistic  inefficiency.  Granted 
that  in  these  early  masters  there  is  occasionally  to  be  seen  all  that 
is  claimed  for  them  of  divine  expression  and  sentiment,  accompanied 
by  an  earnestness  and  devotion  of  purpose  which  preserved  their 
productions  from  oblivion — are  such  qualities  inconsistent  with  all 
subsequent  progress  in  historical  excellence,  or  do  these  crotchet- 
mongers  propose  that  the  art  should  begin  and  end  there?  The 
world  will  not  be  led  to  that  deduction  by  such  puerilities  as  the  one 
before  us  ;  which,  with  the  affectation  of  having  done  a  great  thing, 
is  weakness  itself.  An  unintelligent  imitation  of  the  mere  tech- 
nicalities of  old  art — golden  glories,  fanciful  scribblings  on  the 
frames,  and  other  infantine  absurdities — constitutes  all  its  claim.  A 
certain  expression  in  the  eyes  of  the  ill-drawn  face  of  the  Virgin 
affords  a  gleam  of  something  high  in  intention,  but  it  is  still  not  the 
true  inspiration.  The  face  of  the  Angel  is  insipidity  itself.  One 
arm  of  the  Virgin  is  well  drawn,  and  there  is  careful  though  timid 
workmanship  in  the  inferior  and  accessorial  part  of  the  work,  but 
this  is,  in  many  places,  where  it  would  have  been  better  left  out. 
Yet  with  this  we  have  exhausted  all  the  praise  due,  in  our  opinion,  to 
a  work  evidently  thrust  by  the  artist  into  the  eye  of  the  spectator 
more  with  the  presumption  of  a  teacher  than  in  the  modesty  of  a 
hopeful  and  true  aspiration  after  excellence." 


PAINTINGS   AND   WRITINGS,    1 849— 53.  1 63 

It  is  a  pity  that  the  authorities  of  the  National  Gallery 
have  not  yet  seen  their  way  to  purchasing  "  Mr.  Newenham's 
historical  picture"  (which  represented  The  Princes  in  the 
Tower)  ;  the  British  public  would  then  have  the  opportunity 
of  realizing  to  themselves  its  marked  superiority  over  Ecce 
Ancilla  Domini. — The  Times  wrote  in  a  tone  partially  resem- 
bling that  of  the  Athenceum,  but  on  the  whole  agreeable, 
recognizing  the  picture  as  "  the  work  of  a  poet." 

There  is  a  little  anecdote  of  this  year  which  has  never,  I 
believe,  been  recorded,  but  which  I  understand  to  be  indis- 
putably true.  About  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  Academy- 
exhibition  the  Duke  of  Connaught  had  been  born,  and  Queen 
Victoria  could  not  visit  the  gallery ;  but,  noticing  all  the 
hullaballoo  in  the  newspapers  about  Millais's  Carpenter's 
Shop,  she  required  to  have  the  picture  sent  to  the  Palace  for 
her  inspection.  Whether  Her  Majesty  liked  it  or  not  I  have 
no  idea. 

As  for  the  other  four  works  which  I  have  specified,  the 
water-colour  of  Giotto  painting  the  Portrait  of  Dante  is  in 
itself  a  noticeably  complete  invention,  illustrating  Dante's 
relation  to  painting  and  to  poetry,  present  and  future,  and  his 
love  for  Beatrice.  But  it  was  intended  to  be  only  the  centre 
in  a  triptych,  one  wing  representing  Dante,  as  Priore  in 
Florence,  banishing  the  chiefs  of  both  contending  factions, 
and  the  other  wing  the  exiled  Dante  and  the  Jester  at  the 
Court  of  Can  Grande  della  Scala  (the  incident  introduced 
into  Rossetti's  poem  Dante  in  Verona}.  Rightly  executed, 
this  picture  would  have  been  his  greatest  work.  The  pencil 
head  of  Holman  Hunt  was  done  on  12  April  1853,  when  the 
Praeraphaelites  met  together  at  Millais's  house  to  produce 
portraits  of  one  another,  to  be  presented  to  their  absent 
brother  Woolner,  who  in  July  1852  had  gone  to  Australia; 
Millais  doing  Stephens  and  myself,  and  Hunt  doing  Millais 
and  Dante  Rossetti  (I  now  possess  the  last).  The  design  of 
Mary  Magdalene  was  begun  as  a  large  picture  towards  i860. 
This  proceeded  not  very  far,  and  was  ultimately  laid  aside  for 
good,  nor   do    I    know   what   became   of  the   painted  com- 


164  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

mencement.  A  moderate-sized  oil-sketch  was  completed 
about  a  year  later.  The  oil-picture  Found  was  a  source  of 
lifelong  vexation  to  my  brother,  and  to  the  gentlemen — some 
three  or  four  in  succession — who  commissioned  him  to  finish 
it.  This  work  was  nearly  completed,  but  not  quite,  towards 
the  close  of  Rossetti's  life.  An  oil-monochrome,  produced  in 
May  1879,  and  showing  the  full  composition,  is  extant.  So 
far  as  the  painting  is  concerned  I  will  not  here  enter  into 
further  detail,  but  may  spare  a  few  words  to  a  question 
often  mooted — whether  Rossetti  did  or  did  not  take  the 
subject  of  the  picture  from  Mr.  Bell  Scott's  poem  of  Rosabell. 
The  facts  are  these. 

Scott's  poem  relates  to  a  country-girl,  Rosabell  (afterwards 
named  Mary  Anne),  who,  having  gone  to  town  as  a  milliner's 
assistant,  becomes  the  mistress  of  a  gentleman,  Archer,  and 
afterwards  of  another  gentleman,  Thorn,  who  supplies  her 
with  every  luxury.  Eventually  he  leaves  her,  and  she  goes 
from  bad  to  worse,  and  dies  a  human  wreck  in  a  hospital. 
Before  Thorn  had  left  her,  and  therefore  while  she  was  still 
in  high  prosperity,  her  old  rustic  lover  saw  her.  This  scene  is 
not  introduced  into  the  poem  at  all,  but  it  is  hinted  at  in  an 
interview  which  the  lover  has  with  Rosabell's  parents.  One 
may  surmise  that  the  young  man  saw  her  flaunting  in  the 
Park  or  some  such  place,  and  did  not  so  much  as  speak 
to  or  accost  her.  Now  what  does  Rossetti's  picture  repre- 
sent ?  It  represents  a  rustic  lover,  a  drover,  who  finds  his 
old  sweetheart  at  a  low  depth  of  degradation,  both  from  vice 
and  from  penury,  in  the  streets  of  London.  He  endeavours  to 
lift  her  as  she  crouches  on  the  pavement.  This  is  an  incident 
wholly  diverse  from  Scott's  incident.  It  may  be  said — If 
Rossetti  had  never  read  Scott's  poem,  he  would  not  have 
thought  of  any  such  subject  for  his  own  picture.  This  may 
or  may  not  be  correct — I  see  no  reason  for  thinking  it  correct ; 
but  at  all  events  he  has  not  taken  his  subject  out  of  Rosabell. 
Mr.  Scott's  account  of  this  matter,  in  his  Autobiographical 
Notes,  is  highly  inaccurate.  He  thinks  that  Rossetti  trifled 
with  him  in  June  1853  (the  date  of  my  brother's  first  visit  to 


PAINTINGS   AND   WRITINGS,    1849 — 53.  165 

Mr.  Scott  in  Newcastle)  by  professing  an  intention  of  there- 
after painting  this  subject  as  coming  from  Rosabell  (which  it 
does  not) ;  whereas  (says  Scott)  he  had  already  begun  the 
picture,  and  had  already  painted  the  drover's  cart  and  calf. 
The  truth  is  that  he  had  not  then  begun  the  picture,  and  did 
not  paint  the  cart  and  calf  until  the  end  of  1854  ;  but  he  had, 
I  fancy,  designed  the  subject  towards  1852,  if  not  earlier. 
To  sum  up — Rossetti  did  not  borrow  his  subject  from  Scott, 
and  did  not  mislead  Scott  as  to  any  details  pertaining  to  the 
subject  or  the  picture. 

I  was  referring  just  now  to  the  departure  of  Mr.  Woolner 
to  Australia  in  July  1852,  and  to  the  meeting  of  his  Prsera- 
phaelite  Brothers,  in  April  1853,  to  draw  portraits  of  one 
another  as  a  gift  to  him.  Intermediate  between  these  dates 
was  a  sonnet  addressed  by  Dante  Rossetti  to  Woolner.  It 
has  never  yet  been  published,  but  deserves  to  find  a  place 
among  his  poems,  and  I  give  it  here. 

TO  THOMAS  WOOLNER. 
First  Snow,  9  February  1853. 

Woolner,   to-night  it  snows  for  the  first  time. 

Our  feet  know  well  the  path  where  in  this  snow 
Mine  leave  one  track :  how  all  the  ways  we  know 

Are  hoary  in  the  long-unwonted  rime  ! 

Grey  as  their  ghosts  which  now  in  your  new  clime 
Must  haunt  you  while  those  singing  spirits  reap 
All  night  the  fields   of  hospitable  sleep — 

Whose  song,   past  the  whole  sea,   finds  counter-chime. 

Can  the  year  change,   and   I  not  think  of  thee, 
With  whom  so  many  changes  of  the  year 

So  many  years  were  watched — our  love's  degree 

Alone  the  same  ?     Ah  still  for  thee  and  me, 
Winter  or  summer,  Woolner,  here  or  there, 

One  grief,  one  joy,   one  loss,   one  victory. 

I  find  in  Mrs.  Wood's  book  a  statement  on  another  point, 
not  better  founded  (so  far  as  I  am  aware)  than  Mr.  Scott's 
allegation.  She  says  that  Rossetti  seceded  from  "  sacred  art " 
because  he  was  repelled  by  the  morbid  character  of  a  picture 


1 66  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

of  religious  bearing  by  James  Collinson,  St.  Elizabeth  of 
Hungary.  I  do  not  know  from  whom  Mrs.  Wood  derived 
this  information,  nor  have  I  the  least  recollection  of  any  such 
fact.  My  impression  is  that  the  prolonged  lack  of  any 
purchaser  for  the  Annunciation  picture  had  much  more  to  do 
\vith  his  resolve. 

A  letter  from  Rossetti,  dated  24  February  1854,  and 
printed  by  Mr.  Scott,  is  of  some  interest  as  showing  a  certain 
cohesion  between  the  Praeraphaelite  Brothers  at  that  compara- 
tively late  time.  Millais  is  here  mentioned  as  the  prime 
mover  in  a  plan — which  never  came  to  anything — to  get  up 
a  sketching-club  on  much  the  same  system  as  that  of  the 
long-defunct  Cyclographic  Society.  There  were  to  be  four 
Praeraphaelite  members — Millais  himself,  Hunt,  Stephens, 
and  Rossetti  ;  also  their  close  allies — Madox  Brown,  Charles 
Collins,  Scott,  Arthur  Hughes,  and  Munro.  In  addition  to 
these  came  the  landscape-painters,  Mark  Anthony  (a  fine 
genius,  not  adequately  valued  now),  Inchbold,  and  Carrick  ; 
the  renowned  designers  Leech  and  Richard  Doyle  ;  the 
excellent  animal-painter  Wolf ;  the  painter-amateur  Michael 
Halliday ;  and  two  ladies,  the  Marchioness  of  Waterford  and 
the  Honourable  Mrs.  Boyle  (known  as  E.V.B.).  I  was  to  be 
secretary.  "  The  two  ladies  " — said  Rossetti,  and  with  good 
reason — "  are  both  great  in  design." 

The  writings  of  most  importance  belonging  to  this  period 
are — The  Bride's  Prelude,  Dante  at  Verona,  A  Last  Con- 
fession, Jenny,  Dennis  Sband  (a  ballad  of  a  rather  light  kind, 
not  published),  The  Burden  of  Nineveh,  Stratton  Water, 
Wellington's  Funeral,  The  Staff  and  Scrip,  Sister  Helen. 
Some  of  these  however  were  not  finished  so  early  as  the 
beginning  of  1854.  For  instance,  Jenny  appears  to  have 
reached  substantial  completion  about  1858,  and  something 
further  was  done  to  the  poem  in  1869,  soon  before  its 
publication.  Sister  Helen,  which  may  have  been  written  in 
185 1  or  early  in  1852,  was  first  printed  in  a  Magazine — 
German,  with  an  English  issue  supervised  by  Mrs.  Mary 
Howitt,  whom  Rossetti  now  knew  well — named  The  Dussel- 


PAINTINGS   AND   WRITINGS,    1 849 — 53.  167 

dorf  Artists'  Annual — I  believe,  the  Part  for  1854.  It 
appeared  with  the  initials  H.H.H.  (the  letters  stamped  upon 
lead  pencils  of  exceptional  hardness),  because,  as  once  jotted 
down  by  Rossetti,  "  people  used  to  say  that  my  style  was 
hard  " — surely  a  stricture  which  does  not  come  very  near 
the  mark,  and  has  not  been  confirmed  by  a  later  generation 
of  readers.  Dr.  Gordon  Hake  the  poet  has  termed  Sister 
Helen  "  the  strongest  emotional  poem  as  yet  in  the  language." 
The  sonnet  Known  in  Vain 

("As  two  whose  love,  first  foolish,  widening  scope") 

was  written  in  January  1853,  and  presents  the  conception 
(to  repeat  my  own  words  used  elsewhere)  "  of  a  man  who 
in  youth  has  been  feeble  in  will,  indolent  and  scattered, 
but  who,  when  too  late,  wakes  up  to  the  duty  and  the 
privileges  of  work."  This  must  be  more  or  less  autobio- 
graphical. It  may  be  as  well  to  say  here  that  my  brother 
was,  in  the  years  of  his  studentship  and  first  practice  as 
a  painter,  very  much  what  is  defined  by  the  word  "  de- 
sultory" (a  word  which  figures  in  this  very  sonnet);  partly 
because  he  disliked  routine-work  and  plodding  application, 
and  partly  because  he  was  divided  between  literary  and 
pictorial  interests,  and  often  wanted  to  write  when,  to  all 
appearance,  he  ought  to  have  been  drawing.  I  say  "  to  all 
appearance,"  because  it  is  now  only  reasonable  to  admit  that 
in  the  long  run  his  readings  and  writings  in  these  early  years 
proved  to  be  of  no  less  import  in  his  career  than  drawing- 
work  could  have  been.  This  state  of  things  was  irritating  to 
our  invalided  and  anxious  father,  who  every  now  and  then 
found  occasion  to  reprehend  Dante  sharply,  and  even  se- 
verely ;  and  to  reprehension  my  brother  was  at  all  times  more 
than  sufficiently  stubborn.  These  rifts  in  cordial  family- 
affection  were  always  distressing  when  they  occurred,  though 
they  soon  healed  over  again.  My  brother,  more  than  our 
father,  was  in  the  wrong  ;  yet  not  so  much  in  the  wrong  as 
at  first  sight  he  seemed.  He  grieved  over  the  matter  of  our 
father's  displeasure  to  his  dying  day. 


168  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Among  letters  addressed  by  Rossetti  to  Madox  Brown, 
the  latest  which  bears  the  cipher  P.R.B.  on  the  envelope  is 
dated  before  March  1853.  It  has  been  stated  that  in  this 
same  year  he  first  definitely  decided  to  adhere  to  painting  as 
his  profession,  to  the  comparative  neglect  of  poetry.  Perhaps 
it  was  before  this,  for  the  phrase  "  I  have  abandoned  poetry  " 
appears  in  a  Family-letter  dated  13  August  1852.  An 
article  in  the  Atliencsum,  15  September  1894,  mentions  the 
fact  that  at  one  time  he  was  near  to  undertaking  the  work 
of  Telegraphy  on  the  North- Western  Railway,  owing  to  his 
indifferent  prospects,  some  while  after  the  Praeraphaelite 
movement  began,  of  making  a  subsistence  as  a  painter.  This, 
which  I  had  never  previously  seen  stated  in  print,  is  correct. 
I  do  not  remember  much  in  detail  about  the  matter,  nor  the 
exact  date,  which,  but  for  the  statement  about  Praeraphaeli- 
tism,  I  should  have  fixed  in  a  still  earlier  year.  Perhaps  it 
was  in  1 851,  or  the  later  part  of  1850,  when  the  want  of  any 
customer  for  the  "  white  daub  "  was  becoming  irksome.  If  so, 
it  is  curious  that  the  very  same  picture  which  first  represented 
Rossetti  in  the  National  Gallery  had  gone  nigh  to  ousting 
him  from  the  profession.  Of  course  the  very  straitened 
money-condition  of  the  family  generally  was  the  main  con- 
sideration. In  1 85 1  there  was  our  father  incapacitated;  our 
mother  and  Christina  fagging  over  an  unremunerative  attempt 
at  a  day-school ;  Maria  giving  lessons  in  Italian  etc.,  at  two 
or  three  houses  ;  myself  with  a  small  salary  in  the  Excise- 
office,  and  another  smaller  stipend  from  the  Spectator.  I 
can  recollect  that  Dante  Rossetti  went  round  once  to  some 
suburban  station  to  see  what  a  telegraph  was  like.  The  sight, 
and  the  moderate  amount  of  information  given  to  him, 
afforded  him  no  satisfaction  ;  but,  feeling  the  family  diffi- 
culties, he  did  not  refuse  to  entertain  the  project.  For  one 
reason  or  another,  and  luckily  for  all  parties  concerned — 
including  maybe  the  railway  passengers — it  very  rapidly 
came  to  nothing. 

Another  curious  circumstance  is  that  in  October  1849 
Rossetti  and   his  associates  were  pretty  near  settling  in  the 


PAINTINGS    AND   WRITINGS,    1 849 — 53.  1 69 

house,  16  Cheyne  Walk,  Chelsea,  which  he  did  actually  rent 
from  Michaelmas  1862  onwards.  Mr.  Hunt  and  Mr.  Stephens, 
along  with  Rossetti,  looked  over  the  house,  and  were  much 
taken  with  it.  The  idea  was  that  some  P.R.B.'s  and  one  or  two 
of  their  closest  friends — such  as  Munro  and  Deverell — should 
jointly  tenant  the  house,  and  set  up  studios.  To  inscribe 
P.R.B.  somewhere  or  other  on  the  premises'  seemed  a  sine 
qua  non.  A  suggestion  of  mine  that  it  might  be  written  near 
the  bell-pull,  and  interpreted  by  the  uninitiated  as  "  Please 
Ring  Bell,"  was  hailed  as  an  opportune  solution  of  the  pro- 
blem. The  rent  required  was  singularly  low,  £jO ;  but  we 
were  so  far  impecunious  that  even  this  was  regarded  as 
beyond  our  conjoint  means,  and  the  idea  of  taking  the  house 
only  lasted  two  or  three  days.  It  is  moreover  a  fact  that 
the  building  contained  not  a  single  good  studio. 

This  reference  to  the  studio  which  Rossetti  did  not  take 
after  leaving  the  one  which  he  shared  with  Hunt  in  Cleveland 
Street  leads  me  on  to  speaking  of  those  which  he  did  take. 
As  I  said,  he  was  first  at  No.  72  Newman  Street,  a  house 
where  the  ground-floor  was  occupied  as  a  Dancing- Academy. 
The  Dancing- Master  failed  to  pay  his  rent;  and,  according 
to  the  oppressive  system  of  those  days,  the  goods  of  his  sub- 
tenant Rossetti  were  seized  to  make  good  the  default.  The 
landlord  was  Mr.  McQueen,  a  Printer  in  Tottenham  Court 
Road.  Dante  and  I  carried  away  a  considerable  number  of 
books,  and  I  suppose  some  other  things  as  well.  This  was 
probably  not  strictly  legal — although,  as  regards  the  books, 
they  were  in  fact  as  much  mine  as  his,  for  all  books  were  in 
common  between  us.  Anyhow,  the  bulk  of  Dante's  small 
belongings  was  confiscated,  and  appeared  to  his  eyes  no 
more.  He  then  took  a  studio  at  No.  74,  next  door  but 
one.  It  had  a  sort  of  slanting  skylight,  and  few  places  were 
dismaller  when  a  brisk  rain  came  down  pattering  upon  the 
glass.  My  brother  was  in  this  studio  (still  sleeping  at  No.  50 
Charlotte  Street)  in  October  1850,  and  perhaps  for  some 
while  previously.  At  the  beginning  of  185 1  he  took,  along 
with  Deverell,  the  first  floor  at  No.  17  Red  Lion  Square,  a 


1 70  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

house  which  happened  to  belong  to  Mr.  North,  the  father  of 
our  eccentric  literary  crony.  In  May  he  gave  notice  to 
leave  this  apartment ;  and  he  accepted  Madox  Brown's 
obliging  offer  to  accommodate  him  for  a  while  in  his  own 
large  studio,  which  was  now  in  the  house  in  Newman  Street, 
No.  17,  occupied  by  the  sculptor  Baily.  Here  he  sat  to 
Brown  for  the  head  of  Chaucer  in  the  very  large  picture — 
now  in  the  museum  of  Sydney,  Australia — of  Chaucer  reading 
to  the  Court  of  Edward  3  the  Legend  of  Custance.  The  head 
was  painted  in  one  night,  1 1  P.M.  to  4  A.M.,  and  was  never 
afterwards  touched  upon.  This  is  recognizably  like  Chaucer, 
and  is  also  a  very  fair  portrait  of  Rossetti.  It  is  held  by 
some  writers  that  Rossetti  at  this  time  resembled  Chaucer  ; 
by  others  that  he  was  like  the  Stratford  bust  of  Shakespear  ; 
while  Mr.  Joseph  Knight  (who  knew  him  later  on)  considers 
that  the  nearest  affinity  was  to  the  great  Italian  actor  Salvini 
— and  I  am  more  disposed  to  acquiesce  in  this  last  opinion. 
It  was,  I  gather,  on  23  November  1852  that  Rossetti  finally 
removed  into  Chambers  of  his  own,  and  thus  ceased  to 
belong  to  the  household  at  Charlotte  Street,  or  rather  then 
at  Arlington  Street.  These  Chambers  were  on  the  second 
floor  of  No.  14  Chatham  Place,  Blackfriars  Bridge,  a  line  of 
street  demolished  now  many  years  ago.  He  had  a  very  fine 
outlook  on  the  river,  and  remained  in  this  house  until  after 
the  death  of  his  wife  in  February  1862.  There  were  a 
spacious  painting-room,  a  commodious  living-room,  a  small 
but  well-lighted  bedroom,  and  a  little  dusky  passage-room 
between  these  two,  chiefly  used  for  storing  books.  In  these 
Chambers  I  very  frequently  passed  the  evening  with  my 
brother,  going  thither  from  my  office  at  Somerset  House. 
Not  seldom,  up  to  the  date  of  his  marriage  in  i860,  I  passed 
the  night  there  as  well. 


MISS  SIDDAL.  171 

XVII. 
MISS  SIDDAL} 

Dante  ROSSETTI — though  there  was  nothing  of  the  Puritan 
in  his  feelings,  nor  in  his  demeanour  or  conversation — had 
no  juvenile  amours,  liaisons,  or  flirtations.  In  1850  he  fell 
seriously  in  love. 

Outside  the  compact  circle  of  the  Prseraphaelite  Brother- 
hood there  was  no  man  he  liked  better  than  Walter  Howell 
Deverell,  a  youthful  painter,  son  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Government  Schools  of  Design — artistic,  clever,  genial,  and  re- 
markably good-looking.  One  day — early  in  1850,  if  not  late 
in  1849 — Deverell  accompanied  his  mother  to  a  bonnet-shop 
in  Cranborne  Alley  (now  gone— close  to  Leicester  Square)  ; 
and  among  the  shop-assistants  he  saw  a  young  woman  who 
lifted  down  a  bandbox  or  what  not.  She  was  a  most  beautiful 
creature,  with  an  air  between  dignity  and  sweetness,  mixed 
with  something  which  exceeded  modest  self-respect,  and 
partook  of  disdainful  reserve ;  tall,  finely  formed,  with  a 
lofty  neck,  and  regular  yet  somewhat  uncommon  features, 
greenish-blue  unsparkling  eyes,  large  perfect  eyelids,  brilliant 
complexion,  and  a  lavish  heavy  wealth  of  coppery-golden  hair. 
It  was  what  many  people  call  red  hair,  and  abuse  under  that 
name — but  the  colour,  when  not  rank  and  flagrant,  happens 
to  have  been  always  much  admired  by  Dante  Rossetti,  and 
I  dare  say  by  Deverell  as  well.  All  this  fine  development, 
and  this  brilliancy  of  hue,  were  only  too  consistent  with  a 
consumptive  taint  in  the  constitution.  Her  voice  was  clear 
and  low,  but  with  a  certain  sibilant  tendency  which  reduced 
its  attractiveness.  Deverell  got  his  mother  to  enquire  whether 
he  might  be  privileged  to  have  sittings  from  this  beauty,  and 
the  petition  was  granted.  He  painted  from  her  the  head 
of  Viola  in  the  picture,  which  he  exhibited  in  the  early  spring 
of  1850,  from   Shakespear's   Tivelfth  Night,  The  Duke  with 

1  My  brother  always  spelled  the  name  thus.  Some  members  of  the 
family  wrote  "  Siddall." 


172  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

Viola  listening  to  the  Court  Minstrels  ;  he  also  drew  from  her 
the  head  of  Viola  in  the  etching  of  Olivia  and  Viola  which 
appeared  in  the  final  number  of  The  Germ.  In  the  oil-picture 
Rossetti  sat  for  the  head  of  the  Jester.  It  is  a  fair  likeness, 
but  rather  grim.1  I  may  as  well  add  here  that  Hunt,  not 
long  afterwards,  painted  from  the  same  damsel  the  Sylvia 
in  his  picture  from  the  Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  and 
Millais  his  drowning  Ophelia — but  I  fancy  that  both  these 
heads,  or  at  any  rate  the  first,  have  been  a  good  deal  altered 
at  a  more  recent  date.  This  milliner's  girl  was  Elizabeth 
Eleanor  Siddal.  When  Deverell  first  saw  her,  she  was,  I 
believe,  not  fully  seventeen  years  of  age.2 

The  father  of  Miss  Siddal  was  a  Sheffield  Cutler  (Mr. 
Stephens  says  a  watchmaker,  but  I  hardly  suppose  that  to  be 
correct),  who  had  removed  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Newington 
Butts.  His  wife  was  alive  in  1850,  but  not  I  think  himself. 
I  never  saw  her ;  but  I  did  see  once  or  twice  Elizabeth's 
younger  sister,  a  pleasing  unmarried  woman,  and  once  her 
brother,  who  seemed  a  sensible  well-conducted  man,  perhaps 
a  trifle  hard  in  manner.  There  was  also  a  younger  brother, 
said  to  be  somewhat  weak-minded.  I  find  it  stated  that 
Mrs.  Siddal. had  in  some  way  been  intimately  associated  with 
Madox  Brown's  second  wife,  a  Miss  Hill.  This  must  have 
promoted  a  more  than  common  cordiality  which  (after 
Elizabeth  Siddal  had,  through  a  different  train  of  circum- 
stances, come  into  the  artistic  circle)  subsisted  between 
Mrs.  Brown  and  herself,  and  only  terminated  with  death. 
A  neighbouring  tradesman  in  Newington  Butts,  in  Miss 
Siddal's  infancy  or  early  childhood,  was  named   Greenacre. 

1  This  picture,  a  large  one,  belonged,  some  while  after  Deverell's  death, 
to  Mr.  Bell  Scott.  He  sold  it  not  very  long  before  his  decease,  and  I  do 
not  know  who  may  be  its  present  possessor. 

2  My  brother,  when  his  wife  died  on  11  February  1862,  believed  her  to 
be  twenty-nine  years  old  ;  but  I  can  distinctly  recollect  that  her  younger 
sister  (whom  they  were  wont  to  call  "  the  Roman,"  from  her  aquiline  nose, 
quite  different  from  the  rather  noticeably  rounded  one  of  Elizabeth  Eleanor) 
told  him  in  my  presence  that  the  correct  age  was  twenty~eight. 


MISS   SIDDAL.  173 

To  the  British  public  he  is  a  murderer,  more  than  commonly 
execrable,  and  duly  hanged.  To  Miss  Siddal  he  was  a  good- 
natured  neighbour,  who  would  on  occasion  help  her  toddling 
steps  over  a  muddy  or  crowded  crossing.  Such  is  the  difference 
in  "  the  environment."  Miss  Siddal — let  me  say  here  once 
for  all — was  a  graceful  lady-like  person,  knowing  how  to 
behave  in  company.  She  had  received  an  ordinary  education, 
and  committed  no  faults  of  speech.  In  our  circle  she  was 
always  termed  "  Lizzie,"  and  I  shall  sometimes  speak  of  her 
under  that  name. 

Not  long  after  Miss  Siddal  had  begun  to  sit  to  Deverell, 
Dante  Rossetti  saw  her,  admired  her  enormously,  and  was 
soon  in  love  with  her — how  soon  I  cannot-  exactly  say.  She 
had  a  face  and  demeanour  very  suitable  indeed  for  a  youthful 
Madonna ;  but  I  presume  the  head  of  the  Virgin  in  the 
Annunciation  picture  had  been  painted  before  he  knew  her — 
and,  under  any  circumstances,  he  would  perhaps  have  taken 
this  head  from  Christina,  to  keep  the  work  in  harmony  with 
The  Girlhood  of  Mary  Virgin.  The  first  painting  in  which 
I  find  the  head  of  Miss  Siddal  is  the  rich  little  water-colour 
of  1850  (presented  to  Madox  Brown)  called  Rossovestita  (Red- 
clad).  This  is  not  greatly  like  Lizzie,  but  it  can  hardly  have 
been  done  from  any  one  else.  Soon  followed  a  true  likeness 
in  the  water-colour,  Beatrice  at  a  Marriage  Feast  denies  Dante 
her  Salutation,  which  was  exhibited  in  the  winter  of  1852-53. 
Here  the  Beatrice  is  Miss  Siddal,  and  every  other  Beatrice  he 
drew  for  some  years  following  is  also,  I  think,  from  her — like- 
wise the  Virgin  in  a  water-colour  of  The  Annunciation,  1852. 
She  is  here  represented  bathing  her  feet  in  a  rivulet,  and  the 
composition  bears  of  course  no  analogy  to  that  of  the  oil- 
picture. 

I  do  not  know  at  what  date  a  definite  engagement  existed 
between  Miss  Siddal  and  my  brother — very  probably  before 
or  not  long  after  the  close  of  185 1.  That  she  was  sincerely 
in  love  with  him — he  being  most  deeply  and  profusely  in  love 
with  her — is  readily  to  be  presumed.  Her  character  was 
somewhat  singular — not  quite  easy  to  understand,  and  not 


174  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

at  all  on  the  surface.  Often  as  I  have  been  in  her  company 
— and  yet  this  was  less  often  than  might  under  the  conditions 
be  surmised — I  hardly  think  that  I  ever  heard  her  say  a  single 
thing  indicative  of  her  own  character,  or  of  her  serious  under- 
lying thought.  All  her  talk  was  of  a  "  chaffy  "  kind — its  tone 
sarcastic,  its  substance  lightsome.  It  was  like  the  speech  of 
a  person  who  wanted  to  turn  off  the  conversation,  and  leave 
matters  substantially  where  they  stood  before.  Now  and  again 
she  said  some  pointed  thing,  which  might  cast  a  dry  light, 
but  ushered  one  no  further.  She  was  not  ill-natured  in  talk, 
still  less  was  she  scandal-mongering,  or  chargeable  with 
volatility  or  levity  personal  to  herself;  but  she  seemed  to 
say — "  My  mind  and  my  feelings  are  my  own,  and  no  out- 
sider is  expected  to  pry  into  them."  That  she  had  plenty 
of  mind  is  a  fact  abundantly  evidenced  by  her  designs  and 
water-colours,  and  by  her  verses  as  well.  Indeed,  she  was  a 
woman  of  uncommon  capacity  and  varied  aptitude.  In  what 
religious  denomination  she  had  been  brought  up  I  know  not. 
Of  her  own,  I  fancy  she  had  no  religion.  I  should  feel  the 
more  confident  of  this,  were  it  not  that  Dante  Rossetti,  un- 
defined as  his  faith  was,  had  no  sort  of  liking  for  irreligion 
in  women.  He  had  even  a  certain  marked  degree  of  prejudice 
against  women  who  would  not  believe. 

When  one  wants  chivalrous  generosity,  one  goes  to 
Algernon  Swinburne  for  it.  This  is  what  he  once  said  of 
Miss  Siddal1:— 

"It  is  impossible  that  even  the  reptile  rancour,  the  omnivorous 
malignity,  of  Iago  himself,  could  have  dreamed  of  trying  to  cast  a 
slur  on  the  memory  of  that  incomparable  lady  whose  maiden  name 
was  Siddal  and  whose  married  name  was  Rossetti.  To  one  at  least 
who  knew  her  better  than  most  of  her  husband's  friends  the  memory 
of  all  her  marvellous  charms  of  mind  and  person — her  matchless 

1  In  The  Academy,  24  December  1892.  Mr.  Swinburne  is  here  writing 
about  Bell  Scott's  Autobiographical  Notes,  and  about  an  interpretation — 
more  or  less  fanciful — which  had  been  put  upon  a  couple  of  phrases  in 
that  book. 


By  Herself.  EuzABETH    ELEANOR   SlDDAL   (RoSSETTl). 


1853- 


MISS   SIDDAL.  175 

grace,  loveliness,  courage,  endurance,  wit,  humour,  heroism,  and 
sweetness — is  too  dear  and  sacred  to  be  profaned  by  any  attempt  at 
expression.  The  vilest  of  the  vile  could  not  have  dreamed  of  trying 
£  to  cast  a  slur  on  her  memory.' " 

In  these  years,  1850  to  1854,  Dante  Rossetti  was  so 
constantly  in  the  company  of  Lizzie  Siddal  that  this  may 
even  have  conduced  towards  the  break-up  of  the  P.R.B.  as 
a  society  of  comrades.  He  was  continually  painting  or 
drawing  from  her,  and  pretty  soon  his  example  and  incite- 
ment brought  her  on  to  designing  and  painting  for  herself. 
He  gave  her  some  instruction  ;  but,  of  systematic  training 
of  the  ordinary  kind,  she  appears  to  me  to  have  had  scarcely 
any.  Certain  it  is  that  she  had  a  gift  very  superior,  in  its 
quality  if  not  in  its  actual  outcome,  to  that  which  belongs 
to  most  female  debutantes.  The  tone  of  her  work  was 
founded  on  that  of  Rossetti,  with  much  less  draughtsmanship, 
limper  forms,  and  cruder  colour.  His  own  was  partly  crude, 
as  well  as  brilliant,  in  the  water-colours  to  which  he  chiefly 
confined  himself  in  these  years.  On  the  other  hand,  she  had 
much  of  sweet  and  chastened  invention,  and  an  ingenious 
romantic  turn  in  it  as  well,  and  a  graceful  purity  is  stamped 
upon  everything  she  did.  One  of  her  first  productions  was, 
I  think,  We  are  Seven,  from  Wordsworth's  poem.  It  is 
mentioned  in  a  letter  dated  12  January  1853.  Then  came 
a  pen-and-ink  design,  rather  large,  of  Pippa  and  the  Women 
of  loose  Life,  from  Browning's  drama,  one  of  Miss  Siddal's 
best  drawings,  and  in  essence  a  very  good  one  ;  the  water- 
colour  of  the  Wailing  Ladies  on  the  Seashore  from  the  old 
ballad  of  Sir  Patrick  Spens ;  another  from  St.  Agnes'  Eve, 
by  Tennyson  ;  another  from  the  same  great  poet's  Lady 
Clare ;  and  not  a  few  more.  Her  portrait  was  painted  by 
herself  in  1853-4.  It  is  an  absolute  likeness,  and  the  readers 
of  this  book  may  judge  whether  it  is  a  laudable  work  of  art. 
"  Lizzie,"  said  my  brother,  writing  to  Madox  Brown  on 
25  August  1853,  "has  made  a  perfect  wonder  of  her  portrait, 
which  is  nearly  done,  and  which  I  think  we  shall  send  to  the 
Winter  Exhibition."     But  this,  I  take  it,  was  not  carried  out. 


1/6  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

And  again,  in  1854  :  "  Her  fecundity  of  invention  and  facility 
are  quite  wonderful — much  greater  than  mine."  This  may 
have  been  a  lover's  exaggeration,  but  it  was  not  mere  non- 
sense. She  continued  designing  and  painting  for  some  years, 
not  perhaps  to  any  very  large  extent  beyond  1857.  Ill-health 
interfered,  and  stopped  the  settled  practice.  She  did  some- 
thing however  even  after  marriage  ;  for  a  letter  from  Rossetti 
to  Mr.  Alexander  Gilchrist,  18  June  1861,  says:  "She  has 
been  working  very  hard  these  few  days,  and  made  a  beautiful 
water-colour  sketch." 

Of  her  verse — which  is  but  scanty  in  quantity,  so  far  as 
any  traces  remain  to  me — I  will  present  one  specimen. 
Possibly  it  had  never  yet  been  read  by  any  one  out  of  my 
family. 

A   YEAR   AND   A   DAY. 

Slow  days  have  passed  that  make  a  year, 

Slow  hours  that  make  a  day, 
Since  I  could  take  my  first  dear  love, 

And  kiss  him  the  old  way: 
Yet  the  green  leaves  touch  me  on  the  cheek, 

Dear  Christ,  this  month  of  May. 

I  lie  among  the  tall  green  grass 

That  bends  above  my  head, 
And  covers  up  my  wasted  face, 

And  folds  me  in  its  bed 
Tenderly  and  lovingly 

Like  grass  above  the  dead. 

Dim  phantoms  of  an  unknown  ill 

Float  through  my  tiring  brain; 
The  unformed  visions  of  my  life 

Pass  by  in  ghostly  train ; 
Some  pause  to  touch  me  on  the  cheek, 

Some  scatter  tears  like  rain. 

The  river  ever  running  down 

Between  its  grassy  bed, 
The  voices  of  a  thousand  birds 

That  clang  above  my  head, 
Shall  bring  to  me  a  sadder  dream 

When  this  sad  dream  is  dead. 


MISS   SIDDAL.  177 

A  silence  falls  upon  my  heart, 

And  hushes  all  its  pain. 
I  stretch  my  hands  in  the  long  grass, 

And  fall  to  sleep  again, 
There  to  lie  empty  of  all  love, 

Like  beaten  corn  of  grain. 

The  letter  from  which  I  lately  quoted,  25  August  1853, 
contains  the  first  reference  that  I  find  to  Miss  Siddal's  ill- 
health.  It  says,  following  the  praise  of  her  portrait,  "  she 
has  been  very  ill  though  lately."  The  consumptive  turn 
of  her  constitution  became  apparent  ;  and  from  this  time 
forth  the  letters  about  her  are  shadowed  with  sorrow  which 
often  deepens  almost  into  despair.  In  a  letter  of  March 
1854  it  is  stated  that  Dante  had  introduced  Lizzie  to  the 
Howitts — William  and  Mary  Howitt,  with  their  daughter 
Anna  Mary  (the  painter,  who  afterwards  became  Mrs.  Alfred 
Alaric  Watts),  then  living  in  Highgate  Rise  ;  and  that  the 
Howitts  were  quite  fond  of  her,  and  admired  her  pro- 
ductions. He  had  also  introduced  her  to  Christina ;  but 
was  at  times  a  little  put  out  with  the  latter,  thinking  that 
her  appreciation  of  Lizzie  was  not  up  to  the  mark.  The 
Howitts  had  got  her  to  see  Dr.  Wilkinson  (the  distinguished 
Homceopathist  and  writer),  who  pronounced  that  there  was 
curvature  of  the  spine,  and  the  case  was  an  anxious  one, 
but  not  at  all  hopeless.  From  one  of  the  Family-letters, 
June  1853,  it  will  be  observed  that  she  was  then  painting  in 
the  Chatham  Place  Chambers,  while  Dante  was  in  Newcastle. 

My  brother  was  a  lover  of  boundless  enthusiasm  and 
fondness.  He  made  no  secret  of  his  condition  in  the  close 
circle  of  his  nearer  intimates.  To  all  other  persons  he 
wrapped  himself  in  impenetrable  silence,  not  without  some 
defiant  tone  ;  and  he  employed  pet  names  for  his  fair  one, 
of  which  Guggum,  Guggums,  or  Gug,  was  the  most  frequent, 
if  not  the  most  euphonious.  His  Family-letters  bear  adequate 
marks  of  all  this,  but  more  especially  his  correspondence 
with  Mr.  Madox  Brown.  I  observe,  from  some  of  her  very 
few  still  extant    letters,  that   Lizzie  also  addressed  Rossetti 

VOL.    I.  12 


178  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

as    "  Gug."     Possibly    she  invented   the    term,  using  it  as    a 
sort  of  short  for  "  Gabriel." 

I  will  here  finish  up  with  our  lovable  friend  Deverell. 
He  died  on  2  February  1854,  having  for  some  months 
previously  been  a  victim  to  Bright's  disease.  His  age  appears 
to  have  been  only  twenty-six.  Had  he  lived  a  few  years 
longer,  he  would  not  have  failed  to  distinguish  himself. 
Dante  Rossetti  was  his  chief  intimate,  but  he  was  a  favourite 
with  all  of  our  circle,  and  deserved  to  be  so.  He  painted 
himself  as  the  Duke  in  the  Twelfth  Night  picture ;  Mr. 
Brown  painted  him  finely  as  the  gallant  page  in  the  Chaucer 
subject  ;  and  Mr.  Holman  Hunt  made  a  very  careful  drawing 
of  his  handsome,  head.  1  cannot  remember  that  my  brother 
ever  did  the  like. 


XVIII. 

JOHN  RUSKIN. 

The  relation  of  Mr.  Ruskin  to  the  Praeraphaelite  Brother- 
hood has  often  been  misunderstood  or  mis-stated.  It  has 
been  alleged — and  this,  in  substance,  I  have  already  denied — 
that  the  young  artists  who  called  themselves  Praeraphaelites 
were  prompted  to  their  enterprise  by  reading  some  writing 
of  Ruskin's  ;  also  that  he  encouraged  them  from  the  first. 
This  is  an  error.  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  he  paid  the 
least  attention  to  their  works  while  these  were  on  exhibition 
in  1849  and  1850:  in  1849,  praised  for  the  most  part;  in 
1850,  greeted  with  little  other  than  extreme  and  envenomed 
abuse. 

In  1 85 1  Rossetti  did  not  contribute  to  any  of  the  Exhibi- 
tions. Sir  John  Millais  sent  to  the  Royal  Academy  three 
oil-pictures — The  Woodman's  Daughter  (from  a  poem  by 
Coventry  Patmore),  The  Return  of  the  Dove  to  the  Ark,  and 
Mariana  (from  Tennyson).  Mr.  Holman  Hunt  sent  thither 
Valentine  rescuing  Sylvia  from  Proteus.  It  appears  that 
Mr.    Ruskin's    father    (a    wealthy    wine-merchant,   whom    I 


JOHN    RUSKIN.  179 

remember  well)  liked  The  Return  of  the  Dove  to  the  Ark, 
and  was  minded  to  purchase  it ;  but  the  picture  was  already 
sold.  Mr.  Patmore  suggested  to  John  Ruskin  to  write  some- 
thing about  Millais  and  Hunt.  Ruskin  complied  ;  and  on 
13  May  a  letter  of  his  appeared  in  The  Times,  and  was  no 
doubt  of  very  high  service  to  the  Prseraphaelite  cause. 
Neither  this  letter,  nor  the  pamphlet  PrcerapJiaelitism  published 
in  the  same  year,  referred  in  any  way  to  the  pictures  of 
Rossetti  exhibited  in  the  two  preceding  years.  It  may  be 
worth  observing  here  that  Mr.  Ruskin,  who  was  at  that  time 
a  very  earnest  Protestant  Christian,  had  had  a  vague  idea, 
fostered  by  public  rumour,  that  the  Prseraphaelites  were 
leagued  in  some  Puseyite  or  Roman-catholic  propaganda. 
This  error  was  now  dispelled  from  his  mind. 

The  first  trace  which  I  find  of  Ruskin  in  connexion  with 
Rossetti  comes  in  a  letter  which  my  brother  addressed  to 
Madox  Brown  on  1  March  1853.  He  here  speaks  of  Mr. 
McCracken,  the  Belfast  Packing-Agent  who  had  bought 
the  Annunciation  picture,  and  who  was  a  profound  believer 
in  "  the  Graduate  "  (as  he  constantly  termed  Ruskin) ;  and 
Rossetti  refers  to  "  those  sketches  now  exhibiting  " — which 
were  the  Giotto  painting  the  Portrait  of  Dante,  the  Beatrice 
at  a  Marriage-feast  denies  Dante  Ji&r  Salutation,  and  the 
Rossovestita.     He  then  proceeds  : — 

"  Ruskin  has  written  him  some  extravagant  praises  (though  with 
obtuse  accompaniments)  upon  one  of  them — I  cannot  make  out 
which— and  McCracken  seems  excited,  wanting  it." 

I  presume  the  water-colour  in  question  was  most  probably 
the  Beatrice  subject.  Afterwards  McCracken  bought  from 
my  brother  the  water-colour  (now  in  the  Fine-Art  Gallery 
of  Oxford)  named  Dante  drawing  an  Angel  in  Memory  of 
Beatrice ;  and  the  sequel  was  this,  as  noted  in  another  letter 
to  Brown,  14  April  1854  : — 

"McCracken  of  course  sent  my  drawing  to  Ruskin,  who  the 
other  day  wrote  me  an  incredible  letter  about  it,  remaining  mine 
respectfully  (! !),  and  wanting  to  call.     I  of  course  stroked  him  down 


l8o  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

in  my  answer,  and  yesterday  he  called.  His  manner  was  more 
agreeable  than  I  had  always  expected.  .  .  .  He  seems  in  a  mood 
to  make  my  fortune." 

Ruskin  was  then  thirty-five  years  old,  while  my  brother 
was  not  quite  twenty-six.  He  called  again  very  soon  after- 
wards ;  and  my  brother  was  dining  with  him  en  famille  on 
25  April  at  Denmark  Hill,  Camberwell,  when  he  had  to  be 
summoned  away  to  attend  the  death-bed  of  our  father,  who 
expired  on  the  26th.  These  were  days  of  great  trouble  to 
Dante  Rossetti.  Immediately  after  our  father's  funeral  he 
found  it  necessary  to  run  down  to  Hastings  for  a  while,  to 
join  Miss  Siddal,  who  was  in  a  very  suffering  state  of  health. 
They  were  also  days  of  trouble  to  Mr.  Ruskin,  for  a  different  sort 
of  reason,  on  which  I  need  not  dwell  here.  He  went  abroad 
much  about  the  same  time  when  my  brother  left  for  Hastings, 
and  for  three  or  four  months  they  met  no  more,  but  inter- 
changed some  letters. 

Mr.  Ruskin  took  keen  delight  in  Rossetti's  paintings  apd 
designs.  He  praised  freely,  and  abused  heartily,  both  him 
and  them.  The  abuse  was  good-humoured,  and  was  taken 
good-humouredly  ;  still  it  was  enough  to  nettle  many  a  nature 
more  enduring  than  that  of  Rossetti.  Mr.  Ruskin  found 
him  over-confident  in  the  use  of  unsafe  pigments,  capricious 
in  his  character  and  his  products,  and  careless  of  his  sur- 
roundings :  his  room  was  never  orderly.  Dante  Rossetti, 
like  most  artists  of  any  inventive  genius,  was  at  bottom 
scornful  of  art-critics.  He  was  not  in  the  least  self-satisfied 
as  to  his  own  performances — on  the  contrary,  he  looked  upon 
most  of  them  with  a  good  deal  of  disfavour,  as  being  inade- 
quate expressions  of  the  adequate  idea  which  was  within 
him  ;  still  he  considered  that  an  artist  generally  knows  what 
he  is  about  much  better  than  an  outsider  can  instruct  him. 
Besides,  the  idea,  and  the  method  of  presenting  it,  were  his 
own,  and,  for  better  for  worse,  his  own  they  must  remain. 
I  consider  that  in  these  years  there  was  no  irritation  what- 
ever   between    Ruskin    and    Rossetti.     They   were    heartily 


JOHN   RUSKIN.  l8l 

friendly,  and  indeed  heartily  affectionate,  and  took  in  good 
part,  with  mutual  banter  and  amusement,  whatever  was 
deficient  or  excessive  in  the  performances  of  the  painter, 
or  in  the  comments  of  the  purchaser  and  critic.  The  only 
counteraction  to  their  entire  cordiality  lay  in  the  fact  that 
Madox  Brown  soon  got  to  hate  the  very  name  of  Ruskin. 
He  considered  himself  both  slighted  and  damnified  by  the 
absolute  silence  which  that  pre-eminent  and  most  influential 
art-critic,  in  all  his  published  writings,  preserved  as  to  Brown's 
works,  while  lauding  some  other  painters  who  might  be 
deemed  fully  equal  to  himself,  and  several  who  were  most 
manifestly  inferior.  Rossetti,  who  was  zealous  in  friendship, 
endeavoured  to  bring  about  a  different  condition  of  things, 
but  did  not  succeed  ;  so  he  had,  in  some  degree,  to  steer  a 
middle  course  between  his  warm  feelings  for  Brown  on  one 
side  and  for  Ruskin  on  the  other.  Ruskin  and  Rossetti  saw 
each  other  constantly,  and  kept  up  an  active  correspondence 
as  well.  The  letters  of  the  former  are  still  rather  numerous, 
and  are  full  of  diverting  "  digs  "  at  Rossetti's  designs  and 
paintings.  Rossetti's  responses  are  not  within  my  cognizance, 
but,  if  they  did  not  "  give  as  good  as  he  got,"  I  have  mis- 
apprehended his  character,  and  his  settled  habits  of  mind 
and  act. 

From  an  early  date  in  their  acquaintance  Mr.  Ruskin 
undertook  to  buy,  if  he  happened  to  like  it,  whatever 
Rossetti  produced,  at  a  range  of,  prices  such  as  the  latter 
would  have  asked  from  any  other  purchaser,  and  up  to  a 
certain  maximum  of  expenditure  on  his  own  part.  If  he  did 
not  relish  a  work,  Rossetti  could  offer  it  to  any  one  else. 
I  cannot  imagine  any  arrangement  more  convenient  to  my 
brother,  who  thus  secured  a  safe  market  for  his  performances, 
and  could  even  rely  upon  not  being  teazed  to  do  on  the  nail 
work  for  which  he  received  payment  in  whole  or  in  part.  In 
this  respect  Ruskin  appears  to  have  been  always  friendly  and 
accommodating,  and  Rossetti  not  unduly  troublesome.  He 
availed  himself  of  Ruskin's  easy  liberality,  without  abusing 
it.     In    fact    he   was    made    comfortable    in    his    professional 


1 82  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

position  ;  though  it  should  be  understood  that  his  prices  were 
very  moderate,  and  his  income  was  small  in  proportion,  and 
he  was  often  enough  in  straits  to  meet  some  current  demand. 
He  now  ceased  to  exhibit  in  any  of  the  ordinaiy  galleries, 
and  to  this  system  he  ever  afterwards  adhered.  The  arrange- 
ment with  Mr.  Ruskin  set  him  free  to  consult  his  own  likings 
in  the  matter,  and  may  have  had  much  to  do  with  his 
resolve. 

Ruskin's  permanent  opinion  of  Rossetti  as  a  painter  appears 
in  the  following  words  : — 

"  I  believe  Rossetti's  name  should  be  placed  first  on  the  list  of 
men,  within  my  own  range  of  knowledge,  who  have  raised  and 
changed  the  spirit  of  modern  art;  raised  in  absolute  attainment, 
changed  in  direction  of  temper." 

And  again  : — 

"  Rossetti  was  the  chief  intellectual  force  in  the  establishment  of 
the  modern  Romantic  School  in  England." 

I  will  extract  here  a  few  passages  from  the  letters  which 
Mr.  Ruskin  wrote  to  my  brother.  They  are  scrappy,  but 
tend  to  show  how  the  two  very  diverse  natures  were  getting 
on  together  ;  and  here  and  there  comes  a  touch  of  that  tender 
and  exquisite  amiability  which  has  made  Ruskin  (if  his  genius 
had  not  done  it  for  him)  a  man  apart.  He  hardly  ever  dated 
his  letters  ;  but  I  shall  add  dates  which  are  nearly  enough 
right  for  the  present  purpose. 

(October  1854)  "  I  forgot  to  say  also  that  I  really  do  covet  your 
drawings  as  much  as  I  covet  Turner's ;  only  it  is  useless  self- 
indulgence  to  buy  Turner's,  and  useful  self-indulgence  to  buy  yours. 
Only  I  won't  have  them  after  they  have  been  more  than  nine  times 
rubbed  entirely  out — remember  that." — (24  April  1855)  "  It  may  be 
as  well  that  you  should  keep  this  letter,  if  you  can  keep  anything 
safe  in  that  most  disreputable  litter  of  yours." — (June  1855)  "At  the 
eleventh  hour  I  am  going  to  put  off  my  lesson  of  to-morrow  [i.e.,  a 
little  friendly  instruction,  pretty  frequently  repeated,  which,  at  Mr. 
Ruskin's  request,  Rossetti  gave  him  in  the  use  of  water-colour.     I 


JOHN    RUSKIN.  183 

think  the  instruction  extended  not  much  beyond  the  attendance  of 
Ruskin  at  times  when  my  brother  was  in  the  act  of  painting,  with 
question  and  answer  as  to  the  why  and  wherefore  of  his  modes  of 
work] ;  for  I  find  my  eyes  to-day  quite  tired  with  an  etching  I 
expected  to  have  finished,  and  haven't.  But,  as  you  have  that 
drawing  to  finish,  you  will  still  be  kept  in  town  now ;  so  I  may  have 
my  lesson  when  this  nasty  etching  is  done."— (July  1855)  "Can  you 
dine  with  us  on  Thursday  at  6?  (and  not  be  too  P.R.B.,  as  Stanfield 
is  coming  too  !).     But  I've  no  other  time  for  a  chat." — (November 

1855)  "Please  oblige  me  in  two  matters,  or  you  will  make  me  ill 
again.  Take  all  the  pure  green  out  of  the  flesh  in  the  Nativity 
I  send,  and  try  to  get  it  a  little  less  like  worsted-work  by  Wednes- 
day. I  want  The  Passover  in  such  a  state  as  it  may  be  in,  and  the 
sketch  of  Passover." — (November  1855)  "It's  ail  your  own  pride, 
not  a  bit  of  fine  feeling,  so  don't  think  it.  If  you  wanted  to  oblige 
me,  you  would  keep  your  room  in  order,  and  go  to  bed  at  night.  All 
your  fine  speeches  go  for  nothing  with  me  till  you  do  that." — (May 

1856)  "I  forgot  to  say  to  you  when  I  saw  you  that,  if  you  think 
there  is  anything  in  which  I  can  be  of  any  use  to  Miss  Siddal,  you 
have  only  to  tell  me.  I  mean,  she  might  be  able,  and  like,  as  the 
weather  comes  finer,  to  come  out  here  sometimes  to  take  a  walk  in 
the  garden,  and  feel  the  quiet  fresh  air,  and  look  at  a  missal  or  two ; 
and  she  shall  have  the  run  of  the  house.  And,  if  you  think  she 
would  like  an  Albert  Durer  or  a  photograph  for  her  own  room, 
merely  tell  me,  and  I  will  get  them  for  her.  And  I  want  to  talk  to 
you  about  her,  because  you  seem  to  me  to  let  her  wear  herself  out 
with  fancies,  and  she  really  ought  to  be  made  to  draw  in  a  dull  way 
sometimes  from  dull  things." — (January  1857)  "  I  was  put  out  to-day, 
as  you  must  have  seen,  for  I  can't  hide  it  when  I  am  vexed.  I  don't 
at  all  like  my  picture  now  [possibly  the  oil-picture  of  St.  Katharine 
— a  mediaeval  painter  painting  a  lady  as  this  saint].  The  alteration 
of  the  head  from  the  stoop  forward  to  the  throw  back  makes  the 
whole  figure  quite  stiff  and  stupid ;  besides,  the  off-cheek  is  a 
quarter  of  a  yard  too  thin.  That  Magdalene  is  magnificent  to  my 
mind  in  every  possible  way;  it  stays  by  me."  [This  is  the  design  of 
The  Magdalene  at  the  Door  of  Simon  the  Pharisee.] 

In  one  of  these  passages  the  reader  will  have  observed  the 
reference  to  Miss  Siddal.     Soon  after  Ruskin    had  returned 


184  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

to  London  from  his  visit  to  the  Continent  in  1854,  Rossetti 
brought  him  acquainted  with  Miss  Siddal,  and  with  the 
designs  and  water-colours  she  was  producing.  Ruskin  admired 
her  much,  and  liked  her  intensely ;  and  he  took  a  most  hearty- 
interest  and  pleasure  in  the  refinement  and  feeling  displayed 
in  her  designs,  although  far  from  blind  (as  will  have  been 
perceived)  to  their  executive  shortcomings.  A  letter  from 
Rossetti  to  Madox  Brown,  13  April  1855,  says  that  she  and 
he  had  been  spending  a  day  at  the  house  of  the  Ruskin 
family  : — 

"  All  the  Ruskins  were  most  delighted  with  Guggum.  John 
Ruskin  said  she  was  a  noble,  glorious  creature,  and  his  father  said 
by  her  look  and  manner  she  might  have  been  a  Countess." 

Immediately  afterwards  Mr.  Ruskin  committed  one  of 
those  unnumbered  acts  of  generosity  by  which  he  will  be 
remembered  hardly  less  long  than  by  his  vivid  insight  into 
many  things,  and  his  heroic  prose.  He  wanted  to  effect 
one  of  two  plans  for  her  advantage— either  to  purchase  all 
her  drawings  one  by  one,  as  they  should  be  produced,  or 
else  to  settle  on  her  an  annual  ^150 — he  taking  in  exchange 
her  various  works  up  to  that  value,  and  retaining  them,  or 
(if  preferred)  selling  some  of  them,  and  handing  over  to  her 
any  extra  proceeds.  This  latter  plan  was  carried  into  actual 
effect  by  3  May.  It  will  easily  and  rightly  be  supposed 
that  Rossetti  used  to  find  funds  for  Miss  Siddal  whenever 
required  ;  but  his  means  were  both  small  and  fitful,  and 
Ruskin's  scheme  was  of  some  relief  and  of  great  satisfaction 
to  him.  How  long  it  continued  I  am  not  sure.  There  is  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Ruskin,  dated  I  fancy  in  or  about  1857,  con- 
taining the  following  passage,  which  I  need  only  preface  by 
saying  that  he  constantly  applied  the  fancy-name  "Ida"  to 
Miss  Siddal,  taking  it  no  doubt  from  Tennyson's  Princess  : — 

"  I  shall  rejoice  in  Ida's  success  with  her  picture,  as  I  shall  in 
every  opportunity  of  being  useful  either  to  you  or  her.  The  only 
feeling  I  have  about  the  matter  is  of  some  shame  at  having  allowed 


JOHN    RUSKIN.  185 

the  arrangement  between  us  to  end  as  it  did ;  and  the  chief  pleasure 
I  could  have  about  it  now  would  be  her  simply  accepting  it  as  she 
would  have  accepted  a  glass  of  water  when  she  was  thirsty,  and  never 
thinking  of  it  any  more." 

From  this  I  infer  that  Miss  Siddal  had  then  discontinued 
delivering  her  designs  or  paintings  to  Mr.  Ruskin — probably 
because  her  very  frail  state  of  health  prevented  her  pro- 
ducing them  with  any  regularity ;  and  that,  being  thus  unable 
to  fulfil  her  part  in  the  scheme,  she,  and  also  my  brother  as 
her  adviser,  renounced  the  money-benefit  hence  accruing  to 
her. 

Meantime,  for  health's  sake,  she  had  been  abroad.  I  have 
already  referred  to  the  medical  opinion  obtained  from  Dr. 
Wilkinson.  Towards  June  1855  another  opinion  was  obtained 
from  Dr.  Acland  of  Oxford,  to  whom  Ruskin  recommended 
her.  The  Doctor  and  others,  including  a  lady  of  the  Pusey 
family,  received  her  with  great  attentions.  He  opined  that 
her  lungs  were  nearly  right,  the  chief  danger  consisting  in 
"  mental  power  long  pent  up,  and  lately  overtaxed."  He 
advised  her  to  leave  England  before  cold  weather  set  in  ;  and 
this  she  did  towards  the  latter  end  of  September,  having  as 
companion  a  Mrs.  Kincaid,  a  cousin  of  ours,  who  knew  some- 
thing of  French  and  Continental  life.  This  lady  was  only 
recently  known  to  us.  She  had  (I  think)  been  discovered  by 
my  uncle  Henry  Polydore  as  being  a  member  of  the  Pierce 
family,  at  a  time  when,  in  consequence  of  an  informality  in 
the  will  of  my  grand-aunt  Harriet  Pierce  (who  died  in  1849), 
it  became  requisite  to  ferret  out  her  various  next  of  kin.  I 
remember  Mrs.  Kincaid  pretty  well  towards  1855 — a  matronly 
sort  of  person,  aged  forty  or  upwards  ;  her  husband  much 
better,  a  sharp-looking  solicitor.  He  took  a  decided  fancy  to 
Dante  Rossetti,  and  haunted  not  a  little  his  studio  and  his 
dinner-hour — his  dinner,  while  he  tenanted  his  Chambers  in 
Chatham  Place,  being  almost  invariably  taken  at  some  eating- 
house.  Miss  Siddal  with  Mrs.  Kincaid  went  to  Nice  ;  she 
was  also  for  a  while  in  Paris,  and   Dante,  with   his   friend 


1 86  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Munro,  saw  her  there  in  connexion  with  the  Great  Exhibition 
of  that  year,  he  returning  in  October.  For  some  reason  or 
other — I  am  not  sure  that  I  ever  understood  it  well — she  lost 
her  liking  for  Mrs.  Kincaid.  Dante  of  course  sided  with 
Lizzie,  and  we  saw  the  married  couple  no  more.  It  may 
have  been  in  the  late  Spring  of  1856  that  Miss  Siddal  returned 
to  London,  without  any  such  material  renovation  of  health 
as  had  been  hoped  for.  From  this  time  onward  variations 
occurred  at  intervals  ;  but  as  a  whole  it  must  be  said  that 
there  was  a  continual  decline  of  vital  force,  and  often  she  was 
distressingly  ill. 

I  may  here  add  that  my  own  first  sight  of  Mr.  Ruskin  was 
on  25  November  1854,  when  he  was  delivering  a  lecture  at 
the  Architectural  Museum.  I  afterwards  saw  him  pretty 
frequently,  often  in  company  with  my  brother,  and  I  regarded 
him  with  warm  liking  and  respect  both  as  man  and  as  writer 
and  critic.  As  a  public  speaker,  Ruskin  was  a  subject  of 
highest  admiration  to  my  brother,  who  never,  I  think, 
addressed  a  general  audience  at  all.  That  Rossetti  wholly 
avoided  and  shrank  from  any  such  form  of  self-display  is 
certain.  It  is  not  by  any  means  equally  certain  to  me  that, 
if  he  had  chosen  to  make  the  attempt,  he  would  not  or  could 
not  have  succeeded.  His  address  was  good,  his  voice  excellent, 
his  manner  adapted  for  exciting  sympathy  and  warmth,  his 
ideas  were  clear  and  well  to  hand,  and  he  could  converse 
extremely  well  whenever  he  liked. 

Some  years  ago  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  my  brother  to 
Mr.  McCracken,  15  May  1854,  came  into  my  hands.  It  shows 
so  clearly  the  opinion  which  he  entertained  upon  various 
questions  of  art,  about  the  time  when  he  first  knew  Ruskin, 
that  I  shall  here  introduce  a  few  sentences  of  it  : — 

"  I  believe  colour  to  be  a  quite  indispensable  quality  in  the  highest 
art,  and  that  no  picture  ever  belonged  to  the  highest  order  without 
it ;  while  many,  by  possessing  it — as  the  works  of  Titian — are  raised 
certainly  into  the  highest  class,  though  not  to  the  very  highest  grade 
of  that  class,  in  spite  of  the  limited  degree  of  their  other  great 
qualities.     Perhaps  the  only  exception  which  I  should  be  inclined  to 


WORK   IN    1854-55-56.  187 

admit  exists  in  the  works  of  Hogarth,  to  which  I  should  never  dare 
to  assign  any  but  the  very  highest  place,  though  their  colour  is 
certainly  not  a  prominent  feature  in  them.  I  must  add  however 
that  Hogarth's  colour  is  seldom  other  than  pleasing  to  myself,  and 
that  for  my  own  part  I  should  almost  call  him  a  colourist,  though 
not  aiming  at  colour.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  men  who, 
merely  on  account  of  bad  colour,  prevent  me  from  thoroughly 
enjoying  their  works,  though  full  of  other  qualities.  For  instance, 
Wilkie,  or  Delaroche  (in  nearly  all  his  works,  though  the  Hemicycle 
is  fine  in  colour).  From  Wilkie  I  would  at  any  time  prefer  a 
thoroughly  good  engraving — though  of  course  he  is  in  no  respect 
even  within  hail  of  Hogarth.  Colour  is  the  physiognomy  of  a 
picture ;  and,  like  the  shape  of  the  human  forehead,  it  cannot  be 
perfectly  beautiful  without  proving  goodness  and  greatness.  Other 
qualities  are  its  life  exercised ;  but  this  is  the  body  of  its  life,  by 
which  we  know  and  love  it  at  first  sight.  ...  I  have  once  seen  a 
small  picture  by  the  H.  Wallis  you  ask  about,  and  should  venture 
to  say  that  any  work  of  his  must  have  some  degree  of  value,  if  not  a 
very  high  one — at  any  rate  something  preferable  to  any  Mill  by  any 
Brandard,  to  any  '  vacant '  thing  whatever  by  John  Bridges,  or  even 
to  anything  I  could  suppose  likely  to  fall  under  Redgrave's  notice 
while  '  returning  from  church.' " 


XIX. 

WORK  IN  1854-55-56. 

In  these  years  the  painting-work  of  Rossetti  had  its  source 
principally  in  Dantesque  or  in  general  romantic  themes,  with 
some  sacred  subjects  interspersed,  and  his  method  was 
water-colour.  He  produced  a  triptych  of  Paolo  and  Francesca  ; 
The  Passover  in  the  Holy  Family  ;  a  portrait  of  himself ; 
Launcelot  and  Guenevere  at  the  Tomb  of  Arthur;  a  head  of 
Browning,  a  fine  likeness,  doing  justice  to  so  great  a  sitter  ; 
The  Chapel  before  the  Lists ;  Dante's  Dream  ;  the  five 
designs  to  Tennyson's  Poems  ;  Eliza  Polidori  (oil-portrait) ; 
The  Blue  Closet ;  The  Wedding  of  St.  George  ;  Bonifa.zws 
Mistress ;    The    Tune  of  Seven    Towers ;    and  several  other 


1 88  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

works.  Some  of  them  were  prolonged  into  the  year  1857. 
He  also  made  the  water-colour  preparatory  to  his  oil-triptych 
for  Llandaff  Cathedral — The  Seed  of  David.  Mr.  Ruskin 
became  the  owner  of  a  good  proportion  of  these  productions — 
by  no  means  of  all. 

Rossetti's  invention  was  fertile,  and — according  to  the 
varying  and  sometimes  merely  fanciful  themes — appropriate  ; 
his  colour  high  and  brilliant,  and,  though  at  whiles  a  little 
over-positive,  not  forced.  Allowing  himself  very  free  scope 
in  his  treatment  of  the  subjects,  he  yet  seldom  if  ever  painted 
a  figure  without  taking  it  from  Nature.  Miss  Siddal  was  his 
model  for  all  the  leading  female  personages.  Of  thoughtfully 
considered  or  elaborately  realized  light  and  shade,  or  of 
diversified  planes  in  the  composition,  there  is  very  little  in  any 
of  these  works.  Rossetti's  sympathies  did  not  go  in  such 
directions,  and  he  was  never  an  adept  at  these  highly  impor- 
tant processes  of  the  art — and  at  this  period  still  less  an 
adept  than  he  became  later  on. 

To  some  of  the  above-named  works  a  few  details  may  here 
be  spared. 

The  Paolo  a?id  Francesca  triptych,  begun  as  a  design  in 
October  1849,  shows  the  Lovers'  Kiss,  and  their  souls  in  Hell, 
and  in  the  centre  Dante  or  some  other  figure.  He  repeated 
these  compositions  more  than  once.  Mr.  James  Leathart,  of 
Gateshead-on-Tyne,  owns  the  best  version  of  them,  and  a 
very  fine  example  it  is  of  Rossetti's  power  in  pathos  and  in 
colour.  The  Passover  in  the  Holy  Family,  a  prime  favourite 
with  Mr.  Ruskin,  had  also  been  invented  as  far  back  as  July 
1849.  This  likewise  was  intended  to  be  part  of  a  triptych; 
the  other  subjects  were  to  be — The  Virgin  planting  a  Lily 
and  a  Rose,  and  The  Virgin  in  the  House  of  JoJin.  The 
central  subject  remained  uncompleted,  though  moderately 
advanced  ;  the  second  was  (I  think)  never  done  ;  the  third 
was  eventually  treated  as  a  separate  water-colour  painting, 
one  of  his  very  best.  The  portrait  of  Rossetti  himself,  in 
Indian  ink  executed  with  pen  or  brush,  is  dated  20  September 
1855,  and  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Charles  Fairfax  Murray. 


WORK   IN    1854-55-56.  189 

I  think  it  superior  to  all  other  renderings,  and,  by  Mr.  Murray's 
obliging  permission,  it  forms  our  frontispiece.  The  Dante  s 
Dream,  which  was  purchased  by  Miss  Heaton  of  Leeds  (who 
died  at  Christmas  1894),  is  the  same  subject  as  the  large  oil- 
picture  now  in  the  Walker  Gallery  of  Liverpool,  but  not  at 
all  the  same  composition. 

The  Tennyson  designs,  which  were  engraved  on  wood,  and 
published  in  the  Illustrated  Tennyson  in  which  Millais,  Hunt, 
Mulready,  and  others,  co-operated,  have  in  the  long  run  done 
not  a  little  to  sustain  my  brother's  reputation  with  the  public. 
At  the  time  they  gave  him  endless  trouble,  and  small  satisfac- 
tion. Not  indeed  that  the  invention  or  the  mere  designing 
of  these  works  was  troublesome  to  him.  He  took  great  pains 
with  them,  but,  as  what  he  wrought  at  was  always  something 
which  informed  and  glowed  in  his  mind,  he  was  not  more 
tribulated  by  these  than  by  other  drawings.  It  must  be  said 
also  that  himself  only,  and  not  Tennyson,  was  his  guide.  He 
drew  just  what  he  chose,  taking  from  his  author's  text 
nothing  more  than  a  hint  and  an  opportunity.  The  trouble 
came  in  with  the  engraver  and  the  publisher.  With  some 
of  the  doings  of  the  engraver — Dalziel,  not  Linton  whom 
he  found  much  more  conformable  to  hrs  notion — he  was 
grievously  disappointed.  He  probably  exasperated  Dalziel, 
and  Dalziel  certainly  exasperated  him.  Blocks  were  re- 
worked upon,  and  proofs  sent  back  with  rigour.  The 
publisher  Mr.  Moxon  was  a  still  severer  affliction.  He  called 
and  he  wrote.  Rossetti  was  not  always  up  to  time,  though 
he  tried  his  best  to  be  so.  In  other  instances  he  was  up  to 
time,  but  his  engraver  was  not  up  to  his  mark.  I  believe  that 
poor  Moxon  suffered  much,  and  soon  afterwards  he  died  ; 
but  I  do  not  lay  any  real  blame  upon  my  brother,  who 
worked  strenuously  and  well.  As  to  our  great  poet  Tennyson 
— who  also  ought  to  have  counted  for  something  in  the  whole 
affair- — I  gather  that  he  really  liked  Rossetti's  designs  when 
he  saw  them,  and  he  was  not  without  a  perceptible  liking  and 
regard  for  Rossetti  himself,  so  far  as  he  knew  him  (they  had 
first  met  at  Mr.  Patmore's  house  in   December   1849);   but 


190  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

the  illustration  of  St.  Cecilia  puzzled  him  not  a  little,  and  he 
had  to  give  up  the  problem  of  what  it  had  to  do  with  his 
verses.  If  I  may  be  allowed  to  express  my  opinion  of  so 
great  a  man  as  Tennyson — whom  I  met  on  several  occasions, 
and  who  honoured  me  by  much  freedom  of  converse — I 
should  say  that  he  had  not  any  particular  insight  into  matters 
of  pictorial  art  as  such,  although  he  appreciated  and  prized 
the  art  as  one  of  the  forms  in  which  the  mind  of  man 
expresses  beautiful  ideas.  I  did  not  observe  him  to  be  at  all 
a  "  connoisseur."  Rossetti  put  this  affair  of  the  wood-blocks 
in  entertaining  terms  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Bell  Scott  dated 
February  1857  : — 

"  I  have  designed  five  blocks  for  Tennyson,  some  of  which  are 
still  cutting  and  maiming.  It  is  a  thankless  task.  After  a  fortnight's 
work  my  block  goes  to  the  engraver,  like  Agag  delicately,  and  is 
hewn  to  pieces  before  the  Lord  Harry. 

"  ADDRESS    TO    THE    DALZIEL    BROTHERS. 

"O  Woodman,  spare  that  block, 
Oh  gash  not  anyhow  ! 
It  took  ten  days  by  clock; 
I'd  fain  protect  it  now. 

"  Chorus — Wild  Laughter  from  Dalziel's  Workshop." 

As  I  am  here  speaking  of  Tennyson,  I  take  occasion  to 
mention  two  sketches  of  him  which  my  brother  made  ;  not 
of  superior  import  as  works  of  art,  yet  from  all  points  of  view 
highly  interesting.  It  was  on  27  September  1855  that  the 
Brownings,  being  then  for  a  while  in  London,  invited  two  or 
three  friends  to  the  house  they  were  occupying,  13  Dorset 
Street,  to  meet  Tennyson,  who  had  undertaken  to  read  aloud 
his  poem  of  Maud,  recently  published.  The  audience  was  a 
small  one,  the  privilege  accorded  to  each  individual  all  the 
higher :  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Browning,  Miss  Browning,  my  brother, 
and  myself,  and  I  think  there  was  one  more — either  Madox 
Brown,  or  else  Hunt  or  Woolner.  The  latter  had  returned  to 
London  from  Australia  in  the  autumn  of  1854.     Tennyson, 


WORK   IN    1854-55-56.  IQI 

seated  on  a  sofa  in  a  characteristic  attitude,  and  holding  the 
volume  near  his  eyes  (for  he  was  decidedly  short-sighted, 
though  one  would  hardly  think  so  from  his  descriptive  poems), 
read  Maud  right  through.  My  brother  made  two  pen-and-ink 
sketches  of  him,  and  gave  one  of  them  to  Browning.  So  far 
as  I  remember,  the  Poet  Laureate  neither  saw  what  Dante 
was  doing,  nor  knew  of  it  afterwards.  His  deep  grand  voice, 
with  slightly  chaunting  intonation,  was  a  noble  vehicle  for 
the  perusal  of  mighty  verse.  On  it  rolled,  sonorous  and 
emotional.  Rossetti,  according  to  Mr.  Hall  Caine,  spoke  of 
the  incident  in  these  terms  :  "  I  once  heard  Tennyson  read 
Maud;  and,  whilst  the  fiery  passages  were  delivered  with  a 
voice  and  vehemence  which  he  alone  of  living  men  can 
compass,  the  softer  passages  and  the  songs  made  the  tears 
course  down  his  cheeks."  I  remember  that  on  a  later  occa- 
sion Tennyson  told  me  that  he  knew  no  one  so  well-fitted 
as  himself  for  reading  Milton  aloud  ;  as  he  had  a  deep  chest 
and  long-drawn  breath,  and  could  finish  the  weighty  periods 
of  many  lines  together  without  a  second  inhalation.  After 
Tennyson  and  Maud  came  Browning  and  Fra  Lippo  Lippi 
— read  with  as  much  of  sprightly  variation  as  there  was  in 
Tennyson  of  sustained  continuity.  Truly  a  night  of  the 
gods,  not  to  be  remembered  without  pride  and  pang. 

The  Seed  of  David  was  an  important  matter  in  my  brother's 
professional  life.  The  Cathedral  at  Llandaff  was  in  1856 
undergoing  a  complete  restoration.  One  of  the  Architects 
employed  was  Mr.  John  P.  Seddon,  who  had  already  become, 
and  always  continued,  a  very  steady  friend  to  Rossetti,  alert 
in  promoting  his  interests  whenever  he  could.  A  painting 
was  wanting  for  the  reredos  of  the  renewed  Cathedral  ;  and 
Mr.  John  Seddon,  seconded  by  his  elder  brother  Thomas  the 
painter,  bethought  himself  of  Rossetti.  Mr.  Thomas  Seddon 
had  lately  been  abroad  in  the  East  with  Mr.  Holman  Hunt, 
and  had  painted,  among  other  things,  an  admirably  faithful 
view  of  Jerusalem,  which  is  now  in  the  National  Gallery, 
consigned  thither  by  a  public  subscription  in  which  my  brother 
bore  an  active  part.     This  subscription  took  place  after  the 


192  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

melancholy  death  of  Mr.  Seddon  in  Cairo,  to  which  city  he 
had  gone  in  the  autumn  of  1856.  There  he  died  of  dysentery 
very  soon  after  his  arrival,  and  a  life  full  of  brightness,  and 
a  career  full  of  high  promise,  were  suddenly  cut  short  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-five.  In  March  1856,  prior  to  starting  for 
Egypt,  Mr.  Thomas  Seddon  brought  round  to  Rossetti's 
studio  a  Member  of  Parliament  connected  with  Llandaff,  Mr. 
Henry  Austin  Bruce  (the  late  Lord  Aberdare)  ;  and  it  was 
agreed  that  my  brother  should  undertake  the  painting  of  the 
reredos  for  a  sum  of  ^400.  The  subject — named  by  himself 
The  Seed  of  David,  though  other  titles  have  often  been  applied 
to  it — had  to  take  the  form  of  a  triptych.  In  the  centre  is 
the  Infant  Christ  adored  by  a  Shepherd  and  a  King  ;  on  one 
side  His  ancestor  the  shepherd  David  standing  forth  to  battle 
with  Goliath ;  on  the  other  side,  the  same  ancestor  as  King 
harping  to  the  glory  of  Jehovah.  The  work  was  completed 
in  1864,  and  continues  to  occupy  its  place  in  the  Cathedral. 

The  water-colours  of  The  Blue  Closet,  The  Wedding  of  St. 
George,  and  The  Tune  of  Seven  Towers,  bring  us  into  a 
different  relation  of  life  and  work.  They  may  be  referred 
to  that  phase  of  Rossetti's  painting  which  more  especially 
fostered  his  connexion  with  certain  young  men — now  of 
world-wide  fame — at  Oxford  University,  and  which  led  to 
his  own  pictorial  experiments  in  Oxford.  One  of  these 
young  men,  William  Morris,  took  from  Rossetti,  as  titles  for 
poems,  the  first  and  the  third  of  these  titles  for  pictures  : 
the  poems  however  are  not  founded  on  the  pictures  in  any 
material  degree.  Both  pictures  and  poems  are  pure  phantasies, 
and  independent  phantasies. 

To  some  eyes  Rossetti's  chivalric-romantic  inventions  are 
mere  knell-echoes  of  chivalry,  or  mere  fleeting  suggestions  of 
romance.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  what  was  one  quarter 
in  which  they  were  very  differently  construed.  There  was 
a  deeply  devout  Methodist,  James  Smetham,  who  was  also  a 
painter.  Painting  was  his  profession  and  his  enjoyment  ; 
religion  was  his  life.  He  produced  many  works,  not  of  large 
dimension,  full  of  fine  threads  of  imagination,  and  of  refined 


OXFORD   MEN   AND   WORK.  1 93 

though  not  powerful  art.  He  is  at  present  better  known  by 
his  remarkable  Letters,  published  in  1892.  He  appears  to 
have  seen  something  of  Rossetti  in  1 843,  at  Cary's  Academy  ; 
again  after  1851  ;  and  more  especially  from  1863  through  all 
the  ensuing  years,  until  his  own  mental  and  physical  break- 
down, owing  to  overstrained  religious  notions,  withdrew  him 
from  all  society.  This,  expressed  in  a  letter  of  December 
1865,  is  what  he  thought  of  Rossetti's  works  of  the  class 
referred  to  : — 

"  Your  St.  Georges  and  Sir  Galahads  are  almost  the  only  modern 
pictures  of  heroes  that  reach  the  Christian  ideal,  in  my  judgment,  as 
to  expression.  Not  to  be  invidious  in  naming  artists,  the  modern 
knight  is  a  proud,  vain,  truculent  rascal.  Yours  are  '  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  their  minds ' — couldn't  do  a  mean  or  wrong  thing — fear 
nothing  and  nobody ;  but  would  not  hurt  a  fly  or  strike  an  un- 
necessary blow.     So  I  greatly  esteem  and  respect  them." 

An  earlier  letter,  September  i860,  relates  in  detail  to  the 
water-colour  lately  mentioned  of  The  Wedding  of  St.  George  : — 

"One  of  the  grandest  things,  like  a  golden  dim  dream.  Love 
'  credulous  all  gold,'  gold  armour,  a  sense  of  secret  enclosure  in 
'palace-chambers  far  apart ' ;  but  quaint  chambers  in  quaint  palaces, 
where  angels  creep  in  through  sliding-panel  doors,  and  stand  behind 
rows  of  flowers,  drumming  on  golden  bells,  with  wings  crimson  and 
green.  There  was  also  a  queer  remnant  of  a  dragon's  head  which 
he  had  brought  up  in  a  box." 

As  to  writing,  there  was  not  in  these  years  anything  of 
such  importance  as  to  claim  record  here.  Dante  Rossetti 
adhered  faithfully  to  his  resolve  that  he  would  for  the  present 
be  a  painter  and  not  a  poet. 


XX. 

OXFORD  MEN  AND    WORK—BURNE-JONES,   MORRIS, 
SWINBURNE. 

The   circle  of  Rossetti's  intimacies  had  gradually  changed, 
and   by  the  middle  of  1856  a  new  and  stimulating  environ- 
VOL.  1.  13 


194  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

ment  was  his.  I  will  go  back  upon  my  steps  a  little,  prior 
to  going  forward  again. 

As  friends  towards  the  year  1847  I  specified  the  Heimanns, 
Munro,  Major  Calder  Campbell,  and  Bell  Scott.  Then  came 
Madox  Brown,  Hunt,  and  Millais  ;  and,  in  the  train  of  the 
last  two,  the  other  Praeraphaelites — Collinson,  Woolner,  and 
Stephens,  along  with  Deverell  and  the  Tuppers,  or  more 
especially  John  L.  Tupper.  There  were  also — William 
North;  James  Hannay;  the  Seddons,  with  the  portrait-painter 
Lowes  Dickinson,  and  the  glass-painter  John  R.  Clayton  ;  the 
Howitts  and  Miss  Barbara  Leigh  Smith  (Mrs.  Bodichon) ; 
the  Patmores,  along  with  the  Orme  family  (Mrs.  Orme  being 
sister  to  Mrs.  Patmore),  and  the  Irish  poet  William  Ailing- 
ham  ;  the  painters  George  Price  Boyce  and  Arthur  Hughes ; 
and  the  Brownings.  Then  came  Ruskin  and  his  connexion — 
including  the  Working  Men's  College,  in  which  my  brother 
took  a  drawing-class  for  two  or  three  years,  ending  towards 
the  close  of  1858.  Madox  Brown  then  conducted  it  for 
a  while  ;  yet  Rossetti's  link  with  the  College  was  not 
entirely  broken,  and  he  was  still  doing  something  there  in 
February  1862. 

Some  of  these  were  now  dead  :  Deverell,  North,  and 
Thomas  Seddon.  Major  Campbell  and  the  first  Mrs.  Patmore 
did  not  long  survive.  Others,  for  one  reason  or  another,  had 
passed  wholly  or  chiefly  out  of  my  brother's  ken — Millais, 
Collinson,  and  the  hospitable  Orme  family.  Hannay,  the 
brilliant  novelist,  writer,  and  talker,  was  now  or  soon  after- 
wards settled  in  Edinburgh,  with  his  beautiful  and  admirable 
wife  (highly  valued  by  Rossetti),  and  his  young  family.  The 
Brownings  were  mostly  in  Florence,  John  Seddon  in  Wales, 
Allingham  in  Ireland,  and  Scott  in  Newcastle.  Hunt,  owing 
to  his  absences  in  the  East  and  other  circumstances,  was  not 
very  often  seen  ;  nor  yet  the  Heimanns,  Stephens,  Tupper, 
Dickinson,  Clayton,  the  Howitts,  Miss  Barbara  Smith,  or 
Patmore.  There  remained  Madox  Brown  and  Ruskin  con- 
stantly but  separately  ;  Munro,  Woolner,  and  Boyce,  pretty 
frequently.     Of  course  there  were  others  as  well,  but  hardly 


OXFORD   MEN   AND   WORK.  195 

any  who  counted  as  more  than  casual  and  pleasant  acquaint- 
ances. Robert  Brought,  Charles  Bagot  Cayley,  Whitley 
Stokes,  and  George  Augustus  Sala,  were  among  these. 

The  first  mention  which  I  find  of  Burne-Jones — the  Sir 
Edward  Burne-Jones  of  our  present  day — is  in  a  letter  from 
my  brother  to  Brown,  dated  6  June  1856.  This  young 
Oxford  student — a  Birmingham  man  destined  for  the  Church, 
but  with  a  strong  bias  towards  art,  which  found  vent  at  this 
time  in  romantic  pen-and-ink  designs  of  remarkable  richness 
and  quality — had  conceived  a  high  idea  of  Rossetti's  powers. 
He  called  upon  him,  showed  a  design  or  two,  and  was  forth- 
with recognized  by  Rossetti — with  an  instinctive  power,  in 
which  he  had  few  rivals,  of  seeing  at  a  glance  what  is 
intrinsically  excellent,  as  well  as  what  is  predestined  to  remain 
second-rate — as  a  born  artist  of  quite  exceptional  faculty,  and 
capable  of  doing  consummate  work.  He  urged  Mr.  Jones  to 
become  a  professional  painter.  Jones  obeyed  .the  external, 
and  also  the  internal,  monitor,  and  the  world  is  the  richer  for 
his  decision. 

Through  Burne-Jones  my  brother  soon  came  to  know 
William  Morris,  and  soon  afterwards — but  this  I  think  was 
only  in  Oxford — Algernon  Charles  Swinburne.  It  is  a 
natural  temptation  to  say  something  in  detail  about  these 
three  most  highly  distinguished  men — their  looks  in  youth, 
their  character,  demeanour,  and  attainments.  I  shall  however 
forbear.  Their  personality,  along  with  their  work,  forms  part 
of  the  annals  of  England,  and  indeed  of  Europe,  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  and  my  hand  might  prove  infirm  to  limn 
them  as  they  were  and  are. 

Prior  to  his  knowledge  of  Burne-Jones,  my  brother  had 
already  been  invited  to  take  some  part  in  art-work  in  Oxford. 
In  1855  the  Oxford  Museum  was  in  course  of  erection,  much 
under  the  influence  of  Mr.  Ruskin,  and  his  theories  in  archi- 
tecture and  decoration  ;  and  the  architect,  Mr.  Benjamin 
Woodward,  in  July  1855,  asked  Rossetti  to  do  some  of  the 
designing-work  in  connexion  with  it.  Mr.  Woodward  was 
an    Irishman,  of  excellent   ability   and   highly  refined   taste. 


196  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

He  was  the  very  reverse  of  what  Irishmen  are  currently 
assumed  to  be,  and  was  (without  any  exception,  unless  it  be 
that  of  Mr.  Cayley,  the  translator  of  Dante,  Petrarca,  and 
Homer)  the  most  modest,  retiring,  and  shyly  taciturn  man 
of  noticeable  talent  whom  it  has  ever  been  my  fortune  to 
meet.  He  was  of  handsome  and  rather  stately  presence, 
eminently  gentle  and  courteous.  His  health  was  poor,  and 
he  died  in  1861,  when  he  had  barely  attained  middle  age. 
Among  other  edifices,  he  built  a  very  elegant  Insurance- 
office,  in  Venetian  Gothic,  almost  opposite  my  brother's 
Chambers  in  Chatham  Place.  It  has  long  been  demolished, 
and  London  contains  perhaps  nothing  equal  to  it  in  its  own 
way.  I  do  not  think  that  my  brother  did  anything  for  the 
Oxford  Museum,  to  which  some  of  his  friends  contributed 
statues— Woolner  being  the  sculptor  of  Lord  Bacon,  Munro 
of  Galileo,  and  John  Tupper  of  Linnaeus,  a  work  of  observably 
faithful  naturalism.  Rossetti  however  soon  undertook  some 
work  for  another  Oxford  structure  with  which  Mr.  Woodward 
was  concerned,  the  Union  Debating-rooms.  The  proposal 
was  Rossetti's  own.  He  had  accompanied  Mr.  Woodward  to 
the  building  at  the  outset  of  the  Long  Vacation  of  1857,  and 
he  thought  the  bays  of  the  Debating-room  would  be  suitable 
for  wall-paintings,  and  suggested  that  they  should  be  covered 
with  tempera-pictures  from  the  Romance  of  King  Arthur. 
Thfs  was  not  a  specially  appropriate  theme,  but  Rossetti  had 
not  at  that  time  any  very  clear  notion  of  the  purpose  which 
the  room  was  to  serve.  Malory's  Morte  (T  Arthur  is  a  book  to 
which,  so  far  as  memory  serves  me,  he  had  not  paid  any 
marked  attention  in  earlier  years.  Perhaps  Mr.  Morris,  rather 
than  his  self-directed  readings,  had  impressed  its  interest  upon 
him,  and  Morris,  at  the  same  time  as  Rossetti,  offered  to 
paint  something  in  the  Union  Room.  At  any  rate  my 
brother  was  now  in  a  vigorously  Arthurian  mood,  which 
lasted  some  years,  and  never  left  him  entirely. 

Mr.  (Lord)  Bowen  was  then  the  President  of  the  Union, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  bringing  the  project  to  bear. 
Rossetti    gave  his   work   gratis,  lasting  for  several    months, 


OXFORD   MEN   AND   WORK.  197 

beginning  in  that  Long  Vacation,  and  so  did  the  other 
artists  who  co-operated  with  him  ;  but  all  costs,  including 
travelling  expenses  and  the  living  of  the  artists  (or  of  those 
who  were  not  Oxford  residents),  were  borne  by  the  Society  ; 
and  I  have  understood  that — as  the  young  men  made  them- 
selves much  at  their  ease — these  charges  finally  amounted  to 
a  heavy  sum,  more  very  possibly  than  would  have  been 
demanded  and  paid  as  mere  commissions  for  painting. 

Rossetti's  work  in  the  Union  Building  was  done  after  he 
had  contributed  something  to  a  monthly  publication,  The 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  Magazine,  in  which  Morris  was  a 
leading  writer.  This  serial,  under  the  editorship  of  the  Rev. 
William  Fulford,  was  started  in  January  1856,  and  lasted  a 
year.  Towards  the  summer  of  1856  Rossetti  published  here 
The  Burden  of  Nineveh,  and  The  Staff  and  Scrip ;  he  also 
re-printed  The  Blessed  Damozel,  slightly  altered  from  the 
form  which  it  bore  in  The  Germ.  Most  readers  may  agree 
with  me  in  thinking  that  all  these  three  poems  are  among 
the  very  best  that  Rossetti  ever  produced.  The  Burden  of 
Nineveh  was  begun,  and  probably  completed,  in  the  autumn 
of  1850;  The  Staff  and  Scrip  may  date  in  1852.  The 
Nineveh  struck  Ruskin  most  forcibly,  and  he  wrote  the 
following  letter  : — 

"  Dear  Rossetti, — 

"  I  am  wild  to  know  who  is  the  author  of  The  Burden  of 
Nineveh,  in  No.  8  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  It  is  glorious.  . 
Please  find  out  for  me,  and  see  if  I  can  get  acquainted  with  him." 

The  uncertainty  here  expressed  appears,  from  the  con- 
cluding phrase,  to  be  genuine,  but  it  was  hardly  needful. 
Rossetti  must  of  course  have  written  back  that  he  was  the 
author  ;  and  I  fancy  that  a  very  large  "  Bravo  !  "  which  forms 
the  commencement  of  another  letter  from  Mr.  Ruskin  may 
be  the  response  to  this  avowal.  The  word  is  shaped  out  of 
a  series  of  notes  of  admiration. 

For  the  painting-work  at  the   Union   Rossetti   associated 
several  young  painters  with  himself  besides  Morris — Burne- 


198  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

Jones,  Arthur  Hughes,  Valentine  Prinsep  (whom  he  got  to 
know  about  this  time,  visiting  at  the  pleasant  and  fashionable 
residence  of  his  parents,  Little  Holland  House),  Spencer 
Stanhope,  and  J.  Hungerford  Pollen.  He  asked  Bell  Scott 
to  join,  but  this  did  not  take  effect.  Munro  carved  in  stone, 
from  a  design  by  Rossetti,  the  bas-relief  of  the  tympanum, 
King  Arthur  and  the  Round  Table.  Rossetti  undertook  a 
large  subject,  Sir  Launcelot  before  the  Shrine  of  the  Sangrael ; 
and,  at  a  later  date,  a  second,  Sir  Galahad  receiving  the 
Sangrael.  Some  good  work  was  done  in  the  room,  and  some 
other  work  which,  without  being  exactly  good,  was  at  least 
interesting  and  noticeable  ;  but  the  whole  affair  ended  in 
material  failure.  Not  one  of  these  artists  knew  much — 
hardly  one  of  them  anything — about  wall-painting.  They 
worked  with  reckless  self-confidence,  and  one  might  almost 
say  upon  a  mere  system  of  "  happy-go-lucky."  The  walls 
were  new,  and  not  properly  prepared — not  even  flattened. 
The  tempera-process  adopted  was  little  more  than  water- 
colour  painting,  and  of  course  the  pictures  flaked  off — be- 
coming a  phantom,  and  then  a  wreck.  After  a  while  things 
did  not  go  entirely  smooth  with  the  Union  Committee.  Most 
of  the  pictures — including  the  two  by  Rossetti — were  not 
brought  to  completion.  In  1869  Mr.  Thursfield  renewed 
negociations.  They  were  entertained  with  some  good-will, 
but  came  to  nothing.  Before  this,  a  local  painter  had  been 
called  in,  and  tried  his  hand.  That  also  proved  to  be  in 
vain  ;  and  for  many  years  past  the  painted  surface  of  the 
Union  walls  has  been  a  confused  hybrid  between  a  smudge 
and  a  blank. 

There  is  a  letter  from  my  brother  to  Madox  Brown,  which 
forecasts  one  of  the  morals  of  this  enterprise.  He  says  that 
he  is  doing  the  work  in  a  more  painstaking  method  than  he 
had  anticipated.  "  It  is  very  jolly  work  in  itself,  but  really 
one  is  mad  to  do  such  things." 

If  I  am  not  mistaken,  it  was  while  Rossetti  was  painting  in 
the  Union  room  that  an  under-graduate,  looking  equally 
youthful  and  brilliant,  came  forward,  and  was  introduced  to 


OXFORD  MEN  AND  WORK.  199 

the  painter,  or  possibly  introduced  himself.  This  was 
Algernon  Charles  Swinburne.  So  my  brother's  sojourn  in 
Oxford  had  at  least  one  good  result — that  of  bringing  him 
into  personal  contact,  and  soon  into  very  intimate  friendship, 
with  the  greatest  figure  in  our  poetical  literature  since  the 
advent  of  Tennyson  and  of  Browning.  Mr.  Swinburne 
dedicated  to  him  his  first  volume,  The  Queen  Mother,  and 
Rosamund ;  Mr.  Morris  the  like  with  The  Defence  of  Guenevere, 
and  other  Poems.  In  fact  Rossetti  was  now  in  the  position  of 
what  the  French  term  a  Chef  d 'E 'cole.  He  had  not  only  borne 
a  leading  part  in  founding  and  guiding  the  Praeraphaelite 
movement,  but  he  had  formed  a  totally  different  group  of 
believing  admirers  in  the  very  diverse  centre  of  Oxford 
University.  It  has  been  stated  that  Rossetti  called  Mr. 
Morris  "  the  greatest  literary  identity  of  our  time,"  and  Mr. 
Swinburne  "  highest  in  inexhaustible  splendour  of  execution." 
I  do  not  know  where  these  expressions  occur ;  but  can 
believe  that  they  intimate  exactly,  or  pretty  nearly,  what  he 
felt  on  the  subject. 

Another  incident  of  importance  took  place  in  Oxford.  1 
give  some  details  which  I  find  in  Mr.  Scott's  book,  and 
I  regard  them  as  correct.  The  Union  artists,  or  some  of 
them,  went  to  the  Oxford  Theatre  one  evening,  and  saw,  in 
the  front  box  above  them,  a  very  youthful  lady  whose  aspect 
fascinated  them  all.  My  brother  was  the  first  to  observe  her. 
Her  face  was  at  once  tragic,  mystic,  passionate,  calm, 
beautiful,  and  gracious — a  face  for  a  sculptor,  and  a  face  for 
a  painter — a  face  solitary  in  England,  and  not  at  all  like  that 
of  an  Englishwoman,  but  rather  of  an  Ionian  Greek.  It  was 
not  a  face  for  that  large  class  of  English  people  who  only 
take  to  the  "  pretty,"  and  not  to  the  beautiful  or  superb. 
Her  complexion  was  dark  and  pale,  her  eyes  a  deep  pene- 
trating grey,  her  massive  wealth  of  hair  gorgeously  rippled, 
and  tending  to  black,  yet  not  without  some  deep-sunken 
glow.  Soon  she  was  traced  to  be  Miss  Burden,  daughter  of 
a  business-man  in  the  University-city.  My  brother  obtained 
the  privilege  of  painting  from  her,  and  several  of  his  paintings 


200  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

and  designs  in  Oxford  bear  trace  of  her  countenance.  In  later 
years  hers  was  the  ideal  face  which  speaks  to  you  out  of  very 
many  of  his  principal  works.  Others  among  the  Oxford 
band  of  painters  secured  the  like  privilege ;  and  soon  Miss 
Burden  became  Mrs.  William  Morris.  If  Rossetti  had  done 
nothing  else  in  painting  (and  some  people  seem  to  suppose, 
most  erroneously,  that  he  did  little  else)  except  the  ideal,  and 
also  very  real,  transcription  of  this  unique  type  of  female 
beauty,  he  might  still,  on  that  ground  alone,  survive  in  the 
chronicles  of  the  art. 

In  1857  a  semi-public  exhibition,  which  came  to  be 
termed  "  the  Prasraphaelite  Exhibition,"  was  got  up  at  No.  4 
Russell  Place,  Fitzroy  Square  (now  embodied  in  Charlotte 
Street).  My  brother  contributed  to  it  the  water-colours  of 
Dante  s  Dream,  Dante  drawing  an  Angel  in  Memory  of 
Beatrice,  Mary  Nazarene  (which  is  I  suppose  the  Annunciation 
water-colour  previously  mentioned),  and  The  Blue  Closet ; 
along  with  Hesterna  Rosa,  and  The  Magdalene  at  the  Door 
of  Simon  the  PJiarisee — being  presumably  the  pen-and-ink 
designs — and  photographs  of  the  Tennyson  designs,  taken 
before  the  engraving  process.  This  small  display,  by  himself 
and  his  colleagues,  excited  a  considerable  amount  of  atten- 
tion, more  among  those  critics  and  visitors  who  were  well- 
disposed  towards  the  school  than  among  those  who  were 
hostile.  It  served  to  confirm  the  impression  that  something 
was  still  going  on  in  the  country  very  different  from  what 
could  be  seen  in  the  ordinary  picture-shows.  Other  con- 
tributors were  Messrs.  Millais,  Hunt,  Brown,  Hughes,  Inch- 
bold,  Collins,  Brett,  William  Davis,  and  Windus,  with  the 
late  Thomas  Seddon. 

Miss  Siddal's  health  continued  a  subject  of  great  anxiety 
in  these  years,  and  she  repaired  to' one  or  another  health- 
resort  from  time  to  time — Dante  Rossetti  joining  her  there. 
In  one  instance  they  were  in  Bath  (I  think  towards  the  end 
of  1856)  ;  in  a  second  instance,  1857-8,  at  Matlock,  where 
they  made  a  stay  of  several  months,  getting  on  towards  a 
year.     In    February    1857   there  was  a  scheme  of  a  sort  of 


OXFORD   MEN   AND   WORK.  201 

joint  establishment,  or  "  College,"  for  various  artists.  Burne- 
Jones  and  Morris  entered  into  the  project,  and  at  least  one 
other  painter  was  proposed,  besides  Rossetti,  who  was  under 
the  impression  that,  before  the  plan  could  take  actual  effect, 
he  and  Lizzie  would  be  married.  He  found  however,  on 
speaking  to  her,  that  she  was  decidedly  indisposed  to  enter 
into  any  plan  which  would  domicile  her  in  the  same  place 
with  the  third  painter  here  referred  to  ;  and  Rossetti  himself, 
writing  to  Madox  Brown,  said — "  I  do  not  think  he  has  lately 
acted  as  a  friend  towards  me  in  her  regard."  These  are 
circumstances  which  I  need  not  speak  of  further,  and  indeed 
they  are  not  clearly  within  my  knowledge  or  recollection. 
The  project  never  came  to  anything  ;  nor  was  it  perchance, 
in  itself,  a  very  feasible  one. 

Those  readers  who  have  perused  Mr.  Bell  Scott's  book 
with  diligence  will  have  observed  in  it  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Holman  Hunt  written  within  a  few  days  after  the  close  of 
my  brother's  life.     It  contains  the  following  passage  :— 

"  Rossetti's  death  is  ever  in  my  mind.  ...  I  had  long  ago  for- 
given him,  and  forgotten  the  offence,  which  in  fact,  taken  altogether, 
worked  me  good  rather  than  harm.  Indeed,  I  had  intended  in 
recent  times  to  call  upon  him.  .  .  .  Our  talk  over  the  past  is 
deferred  until  our  meeting  in  the  Elysian  Fields,  when  ...  we  may 
talk  over  back  history  as  having  nothing  in  it  not  atoned  for  and 
wiped  out  long  ago,  and  as  having  value  only  as  experience  which 
has  done  its  work  in  making  us  both  wiser  and  better." 

I  understand  perfectly  well  what  it  is  that  Mr.  Hunt  terms 
"  the  offence,"  but  will  not  dwell  upon  any  details  ;  only 
remarking  that,  if  my  reader  chooses  to  ask  the  old  question 
"  Who  was  the  woman  ? "  he  will  not  be  far  wrong,  though 
his  query  may  chance  to  remain  for  ever  unanswered.  She 
was  not  any  person  whose  name  occurs  in  these  pages.  The 
incident  belongs  to  the  year  1857.  It  behoves  me  to  add 
that  Mr.  Hunt  was  wholly  blameless  in  this  matter  ;  not  so  my 
brother,  who  was  properly,  though  I  will  not  say  very  deeply, 
censurable.     This  transaction  left  no  trace  in  his  after  career. 


202  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

XXI. 

WORK   IN   1858-59. 

The  tale  of  work  in  these  years  is  not  very  extensive  ; 
but  naturally  some  things  were  going  on  which  have  been 
previously  mentioned — more  especially  the  Triptych  for 
LlandafT  Cathedral.  There  were — the  pen-and-ink  design 
of  Hamlet  and  Ophelia  ;  the  water-colour  Mary  in  the  House 
of  John  ;  Salutatio  Beatricis,  representing  Dante  meeting 
Beatrice  in  Florence,  and  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  painted  in 
oil  in  a  week  on  a  door  in  Mr.  Morris's  residence,  The  Red 
House,  Upton,  near  Bexley  Heath,  Woolwich  ;  a  water-colour, 
A  Christmas  Carol,  in  which  a  lady  is  shown  chaunting  as  her 
hair  is  combed  out  ;  and  a  small  oil-picture,  Bocca  Baciata. 
Some  other  examples  can  be  here  passed  over  ;  though  I 
might  specify  the  very  beautiful  head,  Indian  ink,  of  Mrs. 
Morris,  before  her  marriage,  entitled  Queen  Guenevere,  and 
now  in  the  Dublin  National  Gallery. 

"  Bocca  Baciata "  is  a  phrase  occurring  in  Boccaccio, 
meaning  "  kissed  mouth,"  or  "  a  mouth  that  has  been  kissed." 
This  picture,  a  very  complete  and  elegant  specimen  of  the 
skill  which  Rossetti  had  by  this  time,  the  autumn  of  1859, 
attained  in  the  painting-art,  is  a  bust  fancy-portrait  of  a 
woman,  with  a  number  of  marigolds.  The  sitter  was  the 
one  whom  Mr.  Bell  Scott  describes  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  The  paradoxical  conclusion  that  women  and  flowers  were  the 
only  objects  worth  painting  was  brought  about  by  the  appearance 
of  other  ladies  besides  Miss  Siddal  coming  within  his  [Rossetti's] 
orbit.  Among  these  the  most  important  was  one  who  must  have 
had  some  overpowering  attractions  for  him,  although  I  never  could 
see  what  they  were.  He  met  her  in  the  Strand.  She  was  cracking 
nuts  with  her  teeth,  and  throwing  the  shells  about.  Seeing  Rossetti 
staring  at  her,  she  threw  some  at  him.  Delighted  with  this  brilliant 
naivete,  he  forthwith  accosted  her,  and  carried  her  off  to  sit  to  him 
for  her  portrait." 

I  knew  this  person  extremely  well,  and  shall  call  her  Mrs. 


WORK   IN    1858-59.  203 

H- ,  which  was  the  correct  initial  at,  or  soon  after,  the  time 

when  my  brother  first  met  her.  I  cannot  recollect  ever 
hearing  anything  about  the  nuts,  but  do  not  contest  Mr. 
Scott's  statement  on  that  point.  I  do  contest  the  allegation 
that  my  brother  concluded  that  "  women  and  flowers  were  the 
only  objects  worth  painting,"  and  several  of  his  works,  executed 
later  than  1859,  are  there  to  confute  it.  That  he  often  did 
paint  beautiful  women  with  floral  adjuncts  is  however  quite 
true.  The  gentlemen  who  commissioned  or  purchased  his 
pictures  are  chiefly  responsible  for  this  result ;  as  he,  on  the 
contrary,  would  in  several  instances  have  preferred  to  carry 
out  as  paintings  some  of  his  more  important  designs,  includ- 
ing sometimes  numerous  figures  of  both  sexes.     If  Mr.  Scott 

"  never  could  see  "  what  were  the  attractions  of  Mrs.  H , 

his  eyesight  must  have  differed  from  that  of  many  other 
people.  She  was  a  pre-eminently  fine  woman,  with  regular 
and  sweet  features,  and  a  mass  of  the  most  lovely  blonde  hair 
— light-golden  or  "harvest  yellow."  Bocca  Baciata,  which  is 
a  most  faithful   portrait  of  her,   might  speak   for    itself.     If 

Mr.  Scott  meant  not  so  much  to  deny  that  Mrs.   H was 

"  fair  to  see,"  but  rather  to  intimate  that  she  had  no  charm 
of  breeding,  education,  or  intellect,  he  was  right  enough. 
Another  lady  of  whom  my  brother  saw  a  great  deal  in  1859, 
and  for  some  little  while  after,  was  Mrs.  Crabb,  known  as  an 
actress  by  the  name  of  Miss  Herbert.  He  greatly  admired 
her  refined  and  stately  classical  face,  was  pleased  with  her 
company,  and  got  her  to  favour  him  with  sittings  in  various 
instances. 

In  the  way  of  verse,  I  think  Love's  Nocturn  and  The  Song 
of  the  Bower  belong  to  1859 — two  lyrics  of  passion,  and  in 
the  former  case  of  fancy  as  well,  which  stand  at  about  the 
summit  of  Rossetti's  lyrical  performance.  TJie  Song  of  the 
Bower  I  regard  as  relating  to  Miss  Siddal.  Circumstances 
had  kept  him  more  apart  from  her  than  had  been  the  case 
in  earlier  years,  and  he  gave  voice  to  his  feelings  in  this  poem. 
So  at  least  I  regard  it. 

In  1858  Rossetti  and  some  other  artists,  along  with  a  few 


204  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

amateurs  or  outsiders  (myself  one  of  them),  promoted  the 
formation  of  a  body  called  the  Hogarth  Club — quite  a  differ- 
ent body  from  the  one  which  now  bears  the  same  name. 
One  object  was  to  hold  exhibitions  of  works  by  members. 
These  exhibitions,  being  visited  by  card  of  admission,  and 
thus  not  strictly  public,  were  convenient  to  such  members  as 
did  not  want  to  run  counter  to  a  rule  of  the  Royal  Academy 
whereby  any  works  previously  exhibited  in  public  are  ex- 
cluded from  the  Academy  shows.  The  first  meeting  of  the 
Club  was  in  July  1858,  at  No.  178  Piccadilly;  later  on  the 
meetings  were  at  No.  6  Waterloo  Place,  and  the  Club  con- 
tinued until  April  1861.  There  were  two  or  three  exhibi- 
tions, to  which  my  brother  contributed.  He  was  not  much 
contented  with  these  displays,  being  of  opinion  that  some 
of  the  artists  elected  into  the  Club,  and  sending  works  of 
their  own,  were  not  partakers  in  the  pictorial  aims,  nor  in 
harmony  with  the  style,  of  himself  and  his  leading  associ- 
ates, such  as  Madox  Brown  and  Burne-Jones.  I  hardly 
know  now  why  the  Club  was  dissolved,  or  allowed  to  drop. 
Perhaps  its  chief  promoters  found  that  it  did  not  fully  answer 
their  expectations,  and  that  the  endeavour  to  "keep  things 
coins  "  cost  them  more  trouble  than  it  was  worth. 


XXII. 
MARRIAGE. 

My  brother,  as  I  said  before,  was  in  love  with  Miss  Siddal  as 
far  back  as  1850,  and  soon  after  that  year  there  had  been 
a  definite  engagement  between  them.  Nevertheless  we  have 
now  come  up  to  the  year  i860,  and  they  remained  as  yet 
unmarried.  There  were  two  principal  reasons  for  this  delay. 
First  and  foremost  came  her  deplorable  ill-health,  which  was 
often  such  as  to  prevent  either  of  them  from  entertaining  the 
idea  of  matrimony  at  a  time  when  other  circumstances  would 
have  been  propitious  to  it.  She  looked  delicate,  and  to  a 
skilled  eye  probably  very  ill,  but  had  not  in  the  least  degree 


MARRIAGE.  205 

lost  her  beauty,  nor  even  her  comeliness.  Second,  his  money- 
position,  though  by  no  means  so  bad  orjwith  so  little  outlook 
as  that  of  many  another  young  painter,  continued  for  some 
while  precarious  ;  his  receipts  small,  his  habits,  if  not  exactly 
extravagant,  unthrifty  to  the  extent  of  improvidence,  his 
purse  often  empty,  and  needing  to  be  replenished  by  some 
expedient  or  other  apart  from  that  of  the  regular  day's  work. 
A  pawnbroker  was  a  frequent  resource — necessarily  a  very 
scanty  one,  and  ultimately  on  the  losing  side.  Besides  all 
this,  it  may  be  true  that,  when  a  moment  came  for  making 
the  plunge,  he  hesitated,  temporized,  and  lost  it ;  and  this 
would  be  only  natural  for  a  man  immersed  in  pictorial  and 
partly  in  literary  projects  and  doings,  to  whom  every  hour 
was  precious  and  bespoken,  and  who  moreover — such  was  my 
brother's  case — was  very  difficult  to  be  stirred  out  of  his  daily 
groove  of  habit  and  association. 

By  the  beginning  of  i860  Rossetti's  position,  as  regards 
commissions  and  consequent  income,  had  improved  ;  though 
it  was  still  far  from  being  so  prosperous  and  secure  as  it 
became  some  years  later.  The  Triptych  for  Llandaff  was 
going  on.  The  arrangement  with  Mr.  Ruskin  had  probably 
come  to  an  end,  or  was  proceeding  languidly  and  intermit- 
tently. Mr.  Boyce  remained  an  occasional  purchaser,  and 
Colonel  Gillum,  who  first  came  to  my  brother  with  an  intro- 
duction from  Browning,  and  who  is  now  well  known  as  a 
zealous  philanthropist,  the  founder  and  director  of  a  "  Boys' 
Home."  Mr.  Leathart  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne  took  several 
specimens  of  Rossetti's  art  ;  and  more  particularly  Mr. 
Thomas  E.  Plint,  of  Leeds,  a  stockbroker  and  prominent 
Nonconformist  leader.  He  began  purchasing  towards  the 
end  of  1856,  and  seemed  ready  to  acquire,  on  terms  more 
than  tolerably  liberal,  almost  anything  that  the  painter  had 
to  offer  him.  I  do  not  remember  how  he  first  came  into  this 
particular  artistic  circle.  He  bought  from  several  so-called 
Praeraphaelite  painters,  and  possibly  Mr.  Holman  Hunt,  as 
having  exceptional  hold  on  the  religious  world,  may  have 
come  foremost.     Rossetti,  with  his  constant  alertness  for  his 


206  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

friends'  interests,  got  Mr.  Plint  to  purchase  from  Madox 
Brown,  Burne-Jones,  and  Morris.  This  professional  advan- 
tage however  was  not  to  continue  long,  for  in  the  course  of 
i860  Mr.  Plint  died  very  suddenly,  leaving  Rossetti's  affairs 
with  his  estate  much  embroiled,  what  between  payments  made 
and  pictures  due  but  not  yet  brought  to  completion. 

In  April  i860,  and  also  in  May,  my  brother  was  down 
with  Lizzie  at  Hastings.  The  reader  of  these  Family-letters 
will  observe  one  addressed  to  me  on  17  April,  showing  the 
very  alarming  condition  of  her  health  at  that  time,  as  well  as 
the  fact  that  he  had  then  in  his  possession  an  ordinary  license 
for  marriage.  A  letter  to  Madox  Brown,  22  April,  is  couched 
in  still  stronger  terms,  saying  that  Lizzie  "  has  seemed  ready 
to  die  daily,  and  more  than  once  a  day."  At  last  however 
the  moment  arrived,  and  on  23  May  they  were  married  at 
St.  Clement's  Church,  Hastings.  It  is  pleasant  to  observe, 
from  the  note  which  Rossetti  addressed  to  Brown  on  this 
very  day,  that  he  had  beforehand  paid  his  bride  the  little 
attention  of  getting  her  initials,  E.  E.  R.,  stamped  in  cipher 
on  the  notepaper. 

They  went  away  at  once  on  a  wedding-trip  by  Folkestone 
and  Boulogne  to  Paris — a  city  which  had  in  previous  instances 
seemed  favourable  to  Lizzie's  health.  At  Boulogne  Rossetti 
saw  again  his  good  old  friends  the  Maenzas,  and  his  bride 
viewed  them  both,  but  more  especially  Signor  Maenza,  with 
great  predilection.  Her  constitution  rallied  to  some  extent, 
and  they  stayed  in  Paris  until  near  the  close  of  June,  my 
brother  continuing  there  to  do  something  in  the  way  of  his 
profession.  His  ideas  on  matters  of  art  were  now  considerably 
different  from  what  they  had  been  when  he  visited  Paris  with 
Holman  Hunt  in  1849.  He  had  shed  the  prejudices — a 
compound  between  the  juvenile,  the  half-informed,  the  wilful, 
and  the  humoursome — of  P.R.B'ism,  and  no  longer  scampered 
through  the  Louvre  until  he  found  some  picture  of  the  less 
fully  matured  period  of  art  which  hit  his  fancy.  In  i860  he 
pronounced  the  gorgeous  Paul  Veronese  of  The  Marriage  in 
Cana  to  be  "  the  greatest  picture  in  the  world."     This  again, 


MARRIAGE.  207 

if  free  from  clear  perversity,  was  rash  for  a  pictorial  student 
and  practitioner  whose  "  world "  of  art  consisted  only  of 
London,  Paris,  and  Belgium,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  those 
masterpieces  of  which  one  knows  nothing  solid  until  one 
has  been  elsewhere — more  especially  in  Italy.  And  later  on, 
1 87 1,  he  had  got  to  think  Veronese  (and  also  Tintoret) 
"  simply  detestable  without  their  colour  and  handling  "  ;  but, 
as  the  colour  and  handling  are  in  the  Marriage  of  Cana 
picture,  he  must  have  retained  a  very  vivid  admiration  for 
that. 

As  I  have  said,  Rossetti  did  some  amount  of  art-work  in 
Paris.  He  brought  into  its  present  form  the  pen-and-ink 
design  named  How  they  met  Themselves,  and  designed,  if  he 
did  not  partly  paint,  the  subject  of  Dr.  JoJinson  and  tJie 
MetJwdistical  Young  Ladies  at  the  Mitre  Tavern.  As  he 
was  not  a  little  superstitious,  and  sensitive  to  ill  omens,  I 
am  somewhat  surprised  that  he  took  up  the  former  of  these 
drawings.  Here  the  lady — studied  from  Lizzie,  and  very 
like  her — is  represented  swooning  away  as  she  encounters 
her  own  wraith — not  to  speak  of  her  lover  or  husband,  who 
grasps  his  sword  on  seeing  the  wraith  of  himself.  To  meet 
one's  wraith  is  ominous  of  death,  and  to  figure  Lizzie  as 
meeting  her  wraith  might  well  have  struck  her  bridegroom 
as  uncanny  in  a  high  degree.  In  less  than  two  years  the 
weird  was  wofully  fulfilled. 

From  Paris  the  bride  and  bridegroom  returned  to  the  old 
quarters  in  London,  14  Chatham  Place — enlarged  later  on 
by  breaking  through  the  wall  of  an  adjoining  house,  and 
adding  some  apartments  on  the  same  floor.  With  this 
addition  the  domicile  became  compact,  comfortable,  sightly, 
and  fully  sufficient  for  all  present  wants.  They  also  took 
for  a  while  part  of  a  house  in  Downshire  Hill,  Hampstead, 
where  they  were  near  the  Madox  Browns.  This  was  princi- 
pally or  wrholly  with  a  view  to  Lizzie's  health. 


208  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

XXIII. 

MARRIED  LIFE. 

Mr.  Bell  Scott  has  expressed  the  opinion  that  Rossetti 
was  not  well  adapted  for  married  life.  He  terms  marriage 
"  an  even  way  of  life  the  most  unlikely  possible  to  suit  his 
late  development."  By  the  phrase  "  his  late  development " 
Mr.  Scott  means  apparently  that  Rossetti,  not  having  in- 
dulged in  any  juvenile  amours  or  entanglements,  had  in  the 
process  of  years  become  more  susceptible  to  influences  of 
that  character.  On  this  point  I  have  already  had  my  say, 
and  have  made  my  reader  aware  that  Rossetti  was  in  love 
with  his  future  wife  as  far  back  as  his  twenty-third  year, 
and  had  deferred  marriage  for  reasons  all  of  them  intelligible, 
and  some  cogent.  I  do  not,  however,  dissent  from  Mr. 
Scott's  opinion  that  my  brother,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two, 
was  less  likely  to  settle  down  into  the  ordinary  habits  of 
married  life  than  many  other  men  would  have  been. 

His  poetical  and  artistic  temperament,  his  devotion  to  the 
ideas  and  practice  of  an  artist  and  poet,  his  now  rooted 
bachelor-customs  of  working  when  he  could  or  when  he  liked, 
of  keeping  any  hours  or  no  recognized  hours,  of  living  in 
chambers  without  a  regular  home-dinner,  of  seeing  any  people 
he  chose  just  as  they  happened  to  come,  most  of  them  men, 
of  eschewing  the  minor  observances  of  society  in  the  way  of 
visiting  and  dressing,  etc. — and  in  short  his  propensity  for 
doing  whatever  he  liked  simply  because  he  liked  it,  and 
without  any  self-accommodation  to  what  other  people  might 
like  instead — all  this  made  it  improbable  that  he  would  prove 
a  complaisant  or  well-matching  husband  on  the  ordinary  lines 
of  complaisance.  He  was  not  what  I  should  call  "  Bohemian  " 
— he  neither  drank  nor  gambled  nor  betted  nor  smoked  nor 
amused  himself  in  any  rough-and-ready  manner  ;  but  certainly 
he  did  not  belong  to  the  tribe  of  those  decorous  citizens  whose 
highest  ambition  seems  to  be  that  they  should  demean  them- 
selves the  one  like  the  other,  and  all  in  some  conformity  to 


MARRIED   LIFE.  200, 

"  the  upper  classes."  Besides,  he  had  long  been  inured  to 
having  things  his  own  way,  and  to  a  certain  ungrudgingly 
conceded  leadership  even  among  the  men  of  genius  who 
formed  his  inner  circle.  'He  might  have  modified  Iago's 
phrase,  and  said,  "  For  I  am  nothing  if  not  dominant."  It  is 
to  be  remembered  that  his  wife  was  perfectly  accustomed  to 
his  habits,  had  much  of  tendency  and  feeling  in  the  same 
direction  as  himself,  and,  from  her  constant  and  severe  ill- 
health  if  from  no  other  cause,  was  very  little  in  the  way  of 
polite  visiting  or  elegant  sight-seeing. 

Two  families  she  did  very  frequently  visit  with — the  Madox 
Browns  and  the  Morrises  ;  and  I  suppose  in  a  minor  degree 
the  Burne-Joneses,  for  Mr.  Jones  had  married  (Miss  Georgina 
Macdonald)  very  soon  after  my  brother's  wedding.  The 
Macdonalds  were  a  rather  numerous  family,  all  or  most  of 
whom  were  in  some  degree  known  to  my  brother,  and  were 
probably  not  unknown  to  his  wife.  Two  of  the  sisters  are  now 
Mrs.  Poynter,  wife  of  the  Director  of  the  National  Gallery, 
and  Mrs.  Kipling,  mother  of  Mr.  Rudyard  Kipling.  With 
the  Brown  and  Morris  families  Mrs.  Rossetti  stayed  every 
now  and  then  along  with  her  husband,  and  at  some  other 
times  without  him.  The  Ruskins  they  saw  occasionally,  but 
not  so  regularly  as  might  have  been  expected.  For  one 
reason  or  another  I  happen  to  have  witnessed  very  little  of 
my  brother's  married  life.  We  lived  at  opposite  ends  of  the 
town — he  by  Blackfriars  Bridge,  and  I,  with  my  mother  and 
sisters,  near  Regent's  Park  (166  Albany  Street),  and  each  of 
us  had  his  separate  unavoidable  occupations. 

There  is  a  pretty  little  letter  from  Mr.  Ruskin,  congratulating 
Dante  and  Lizzie  on  their  marriage.  It  is  dated  4  September 
i860,  as  he  had  been  away  at  a  prior  date.  I  extract  the 
postscript : — 

"  I  looked  over  all  the  book  of  sketches  at  Chatham  Place  yester- 
day [the  book  of  sketches  was  a  large  handsome  volume  given  to 
Rossetti  by  Lady  Dalrymple,  a  most  obliging  friend  of  his,  sister 
to  Mrs.  Prinsep.     He  inserted  into  its  commodious  leaves  a  great 

VOL.   I.  14 


2IO  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

number  of  pencil  and  other  drawings,  many  of  which  remained 
undisposed-of  up  to  the  date  of  his  death.  Mr.  Ruskin,  it  is  to  be 
inferred,  had  called  in  Chatham  Place  on  some  day  when  the 
Rossettis  were  staying  at  their  lodgings  at  Hampstead].  I  think 
Ida  should  be  very  happy  to  see  how  much  more  beautifully,  per- 
fectly, and  tenderly,  you  draw  when  you  are  drawing  her  than  when 
you  draw  anybody  else.  She  cures  you  of  all  your  worst  faults  when 
you  only  look  at  her." 

These  drawings  of  Lizzie,  very  considerable  in  number  from 
first  to  last,  were  made  some  before  and  some  after  marriage. 
There  is  a  substantial  measure  of  truth  in  what  Mr.  Ruskin 
said  as  to  their  quality,  pure  and  exquisite  in  a  high  degree, 
as  pitted  against  even  the  finest  drawings  which  my  brother 
made  from  other  sitters  at  any  period  of  his  pictorial  career. 

After  allowing  for  the  three  married  couples  whom  I  have 
named,  there  was  not,  I  think,  any  person  whom  Rossetti 
saw,  during  his  wedded  life,  so  constantly  and  so  delightedly 
as  Mr.  Swinburne.  This  poet's  first  volume — the  two  dramas 
of  The  Queen  MotJier  and  Rosamund — came  out  in  the  only 
completed  year,  1861,  of  my  brother's  marriage.  It  did  not 
create  any  particular  stir,  but  Rossetti  knew  perfectly  well 
what  to  think  of  the  volume,  and  of  its  author  and  his  future. 
Mr.  Swinburne's  brilliant  intellect,  his  wide  knowledge  of 
poetry  and  astonishing  memory  in  quotation,  his  enthusiasm 
for  whatsoever  he  recognized  as  great,  his  fascinating  audacity 
and  pungency  in  talk,  and  the  singular  and  ingenuous  charm 
of  his  manner  to  any  one  whom  he  either  liked  or  respected, 
made  him  the  most  welcome  of  comrades  to  Rossetti.  For 
what  this  archimage  of  verse  thought  of  Mrs.  Rossetti  I  may 
refer  back  to  a  previous  section,  XVII.  At  this  time  my 
brother  came  also  into  habits  of  some  intimacy  with  Mr. 
George  Meredith  the  celebrated  novelist,  and  with  Mr. 
Frederick  A.  Sandys  the  painter — of  whom  Rossetti  had' 
heard  something  in  1857,  when  Mr.  Sandys  published  a 
caricature  of  Millais's  picture  Sir  Isumbras  at  the  Ford, 
containing  figures  of  Millais  himself,  along  with  Hunt  and 
Rossetti,  but  intended  chiefly  as  a  pasquinade  against  Ruskin, 


MARRIED   LIFE.  2 1  I 

Another  person  who  was  often  in  Rossetti's  apartments  was 
Mr.  James  Anderson  Rose,  a  solicitor  and  art-collector,-  who 
continued  on  easy  and  pleasant  terms  with  my  brother  for 
several  years,  though  the  latter  eventually  (whatever  the 
cause)  preferred  to  lose  sight  of  him.  Yet  another  was  Mr. 
Alexander  Gilchrist,  author  of  The  Life  of  Etty,  who  was  at 
this  time  engaged  in  writing  his  most  praiseworthy  Life  of 
Blake.  For  Gilchrist  the  feeling  of  Rossetti,  who  first  met 
him  in  the  spring  of  1861  in  relation  to  the  Blake  work,  was 
one  of  genuine  friendliness.  He  liked  the  writer  and  his 
writings,  and  had  a  high  regard  for  his  insight  as  a  critic  of 
art.  Few  of  the  events  occurring  at  any  time  of  his  life  seem 
to  have  affected  Rossetti  as  a  more  staggering  blow  than  the 
sudden  death  of  Gilchrist  from  scarlet  fever,1  at  the  age  of 
only  thirty-three,  on  30  November  1861.  While  his  short 
and  fierce  illness  lasted,  Rossetti  wrote  to  Mrs.  Gilchrist 
offering  that  either  himself  or  I  would  keep  up  the  invalid's 
current  literary  work  ;  and  he  made  another  nearly  similar 
offer  immediately  after  Gilchrist's  death.  But  soon  a  far 
crueller  blow  was  to  strike  him. 

Let  me  repeat  here,  from  The  Life  of  Anne  Gilchrist — her- 
self a  noble-natured  woman,  whom  my  brother  knew  and 
appreciated  from  1861  until  his  life  closed  in  1882 — a  trait 
which  does  honour  to  a  lady  occasionally  mentioned  in  my 
pages,  the  second  Mrs.  Madox  Brown.  It  should  be  under- 
stood that  scarlet  fever  was  then  raging  in  the  Gilchrist 
household — not  only  Gilchrist  himself,  who  succumbed,  but 
also  two  of  his  children,  who  recovered,  being  dangerously 
attacked  : — 

"  In  the  tragedies  of  life  there  seem  to  be  among  our  fellow- 
beings  always  one  or  two  with  a  dash  of  heroism  in  their  natures. 
Mrs.  Madox  Brown  offered  to  come  and  help.  Anne  Gilchrist,  even 
then,  remembered  that  Mrs.  Brown  possessed  children — a  thought 
which  made  her  decline  the  noble  offer." 

1  Several  letters  from  Rossetti,  on  this  subject  and  others,  are  in  the 
book  Anne  Gilchrist,  Edited  by  Herbert  H,  Gilchrist.     Unwin,  1887. 


212  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Married  life  cannot  be  exactly  happy  when  one  of  the 
spouses  is  perpetually  and  grievously  ill.  Affectionate  and 
tender  it  may  be,  but  not  happy  ;  indeed  the  very  affection 
bars  the  possibility  of  happiness.  I  hardly  think  that  at  any 
time  in  her  brief  period  of  marriage  was  Lizzie  Rossetti  quite 
so  alarmingly  ill  as  she  had  been  just  before  it  commenced  ; 
but  health  was  irrecoverably  gone,  and  sickness,  more  or  less 
serious,  was  her  constant  portion.  She  was  compelled — no 
doubt  under  medical  advice — to  take  laudanum  or  some  opiate 
continually,  and  stimulants  alternated  with  opiates.  On 
2  May  1861  she  was  confined  of  a  stillborn  female  infant — 
Dr.  Babington,  the  Head  Physician  of  the  Lying-in  Hospital, 
being  called  in,  as  well  as  another  doctor.  Immediately  before 
this  occurrence  Rossetti  had  written,  "  She  has  too  much 
courage  to  be  in  the  least  downcast  herself  "  ;  and  she  rallied 
from  the  confinement  rapidly  enough. 

In  the  summer  of  1 861  another  of  Rossetti's  friends  had 
passed  away — Mrs.  Wells,  the  sister  of  Mr.  Boyce,  and  wife 
of  the  R.A.  Portrait-painter.  Pier  age  may  have  been  under 
thirty.  She  was  herself  an  exhibiting  painter  of  exceptional 
talent,  from  which  my  brother  and  many  more  hoped  much. 
He  took  a  portrait  of  her  as  she  lay  in  death  ;  and  Gilchrist, 
so  soon  to  follow  her  to  the  grave,  wrote  an  obituary-notice 
of  her,  highly  and  deservedly  eulogistic. 

A  phrase  in  one  of  my  brother's  letters  to  Madox  Brown, 
2  December  1861,  may  be  worth  observing  :  he  professes  to  be 
"getting  awfully  fat  and  torpid."  In  early  youth  he  was  slim 
and  rather  attenuated.  This  had  now  for  some  while  ceased 
to  be  the  case  ;  and  the  phrase  which  he  used,  though  ex- 
aggerated, was  not  repugnant  to  fact.  After  this  date  he 
was  sometimes  (as  for  instance  in  1873)  still  fatter  than  then, 
but  with  marked  variations  from  time  to  time.  In  his  closing 
years  he  might  be  considered  thin  again. 


WORK  IN    1 860-6 1.  213 


XXIV. 


WORK  IN  1860-61— "THE  EARLY  ITALIAN  POETS"— THE 
.    MORRIS  FIRM. 

At  no  period  of  his  life  was  my  brother  more  busily  employed 
than  during  his  brief  term  of  marriage,  May  1 860  to  February 
1862.  He  was  much  engaged  in  painting,  in  a  literary 
project,  and  in  a  general  scheme  of  art-work. 

The  death  in   i860  of  the  then  principal  purchaser  of  his 
paintings,   Mr.    Plint,  has  been  previously  mentioned.     This, 
at  the  very  outset  of  married  life,   was  a  most  serious  mis- 
fortune and  embarrassment  to  him — and  a  sorrow  as  well,  for 
he  entertained  a  cordial  liking  for  this  liberal  and  estimable 
man.     Mr.  Plint  had  paid  him  in  advance  no  less  a  sum  than 
£714.,  for  three   pictures   not  yet  completed,  perhaps  hardly 
begun  ;  and  Rossetti  had  to  execute  and  send  in  the  works 
without  so  far    neglecting    other   employment    as    to   wrong 
surviving  buyers,  or  to   deprive  himself  and  his  wife  of  the 
means  of  subsistence  from  month  to  month.    The  details  appear 
to  some  extent  in  his  Family-letters.     Some  pictures  probably 
were  completed  without  any  great  delay,  and  my  brother  re- 
paid also  a  part  of  the  purchase-money.     In  1865  the  whole 
of  Mr.  Flint's  collection  of  art  was  sold  off.     It  included  five 
works  by  Rossetti  :  the  small  oil-picture  named  Burd  Alane, 
and  the  water-colours  of  The  Lovers  (called  also  Carlisle  Toiver), 
The  Bower-garden,  The  Wedding  of  St.  George,  and  Dr.  Johnson 
with  the  Methodistical    Young  Ladies   at  the  Mitre   Tavern. 
Another  small  oil-picture  of  his  had  belonged  to  Mr.  Plint — 
The  Queen  of  Hearts  (or  Regina  Cordiuni),  being  a  portrait 
of  Lizzie  Rossetti ;  but  this,  as  the  sale  was  determined  upon 
very  soon  after  Lizzie's  death,  was,  out  of  consideration  for 
the  painter's  feelings,  withdrawn  from  the  auction  under  some 
arrangement.     There  were   also   paintings  by   Turner,    Etty, 
Burne-Jones,  Madox  Brown,  Millais,  Holman  Hunt,  Hughes, 
Wallis,  Windus,  Brett,  Alfred  Hunt,  William  Hunt,  Lewis, 
Holland,  Oakes,   Hook,    Edouard   Frere,   Leys,   and    various 
others.     This  seems  a  sufficiently  tempting  list  ;  but  for  some 


214  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

reason  or  other  (possibly,  but  I  cannot  affirm  it,  there  was 
a  combination  of  picture-dealers  inimical  to  the  new  school) 
the  sale  proved  a  very  great  failure — so  far,  at  any  rate,  as 
pictures  of  the  "  Praeraphaelite  "  order  were  concerned.  Scarcely 
any  even  tolerable  prices  were  realized  save  by  Rossetti's 
pictures,  and  for  these  the  prices  were  much  less  than  Mr. 
Plint  had  not  extravagantly  given.  For  years  afterwards,  or 
indeed  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  my  brother  mistrusted  the 
chances  of  auction-sales,  and  did  his  best  to  shut  out  from 
them  any  works  of  his  own. 

Among  the  productions  of  Rossetti  in  these  two  years  were 
— the  water-colour  of  Lucrezia  Borgia  (preparing  a  poison- 
draught) ;  the  finished  oil-sketch  of  the  old  Magdalene 
subject ;  the  crowded  pen-and-ink  design  of  Cassandra 
(prophesying  the  death  of  Hector)  ;  The  Annunciation,  painted 
in  oil  on  a  pulpit  in  the  Church  of  St.  Martin-on-the-Hill, 
Scarborough  ;  a  water-colour  head  of  Mr.  Swinburne,  I  suppose 
the  most  vigorous  and  finished  record  of  his  youth  which 
posterity  will  have  to  cherish  ;  a  red-chalk  life-sized  head  of 
Ruskin  ;  the  oil-picture  Fair  Rosamund;  and  an  oil-picture 
named  Dautis  Amor,  of  symbolical  character.  The  same 
design  appears  in  a  pen-and-ink  drawing.  There  were  also 
the  two  designs  for  Christina  Rossetti's  volume  (published  in 
1862)  Goblin  Market,  and  other  Poems.  The  Magdalene 
stands  very  fully  described  in  a  letter  which  my  brother  in 
1865  addressed  to  the  wife  of  the  purchaser,  Mr.  Clabburn 
of  Norwich.  This  is  printed  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  of 
16  January  1891.  The  Cassandra  is  one  of  the  most  important 
among  all  my  brother's  inventions.  Many  a  time  did  he  wish 
to  set-to  at  painting  it,  but  something  always  interfered — chiefly 
the  constant  run  of  commissions  for  pictures  of  a  less  exacting 
and  less  costly  kind.  It  was  certainly  one  of  his  lifelong  re- 
grets that  this  subject  remained  only  a  design,  and  not  a  picture. 

The  time  had  now  come  for  Rossetti  to  appear  before  the 
public  as  author  of  a  volume — The  Early  Italian  Poets.  I 
have  already  spoken  at  some  length  about  this  very  interesting 
series    of    translations,    the    work    almost    entirely    of    his 


WORK   IN    1 860-6 1.  215 

eighteenth  to  his  twenty-second  year  ;  and  I  will  avow  my 
belief  that  there  was  not  in  the  United  Kingdom  another  man 
who  could  have  done  them  half  as  well — with  half  the  insight 
into  the  poetic  motives  and  character  of  the  originals,  or  half 
the  personal  power  of  poetic  transfusion,  which  he  brought  to 
the  task.  Self-reliant  though  he  was  when  he  made  the 
translations,  and  still  more  so  when  he  was  preparing  to 
publish  them,  and,  by  his  innermost  nature,  immutably  biassed 
in  certain  directions  and  not  in  others,  he  was  nevertheless 
extremely  ready  to  consult  well-qualified  friends  as  to  this 
book,  and  to  take  some  practical  advantage  of  the  advice 
which  they  might  offer  him.  In  this  way  he  showed  his  MS. 
to  Mr.  Allingham,  Mr.  Ruskin,  Mr.  Patmore,  Count  Aurelio 
Saffi  (then  in  Oxford,  once  the  noble  Triumvir  of  Rome  along 
with  Mazzini  and  Armellini),  and  no  doubt  to  Mr.  Swinburne 
and  some  others  as  well.  To  myself  he  committed  the  MS. 
of  the  Vita  Nuova,  asking  me  to  introduce  any  change  of 
diction,  etc.,  which  I  might  judge  expedient. 

Ruskin  liked  the  translations,  but  urged  that  crudities  (and 
there  must  have  been  many  in  MSS.  going  back  to  that 
remote  period  of  youth)  should  be  removed.  Patmore  wrote 
a  letter  of  so  much  generous  elan,  and  so  stringently  ex- 
pressed, that  I  will  not  scruple  to  re-produce  it  here  : — 

"  21   May   1861. 

"  My  dear  Rossetti, 

"  A  thousand  thanks  for  what  I  see  at  a  glance  is  one  of  the 
very  few  really  precious  books  in  the  English  or  any  other  language. 
It  seems  to  me  to  be  the  first  time  that  a  translator  has  proved  him- 
self, by  his  translations  alone,  to  be  a  great  poet.  Your  book  is  so 
exquisitely  to  my  taste  that  I  almost  dread  to  read  it — as  one  dreads 
other  great  enjoyments  which  will  diminish  with  enjoyment.  How 
I  envy  the  iron  muscle  and  the  electric  nerve  which  appears  every- 
where in  your  poetic  diction  !  It  would  be  absurd  to  wish  you 
success  after  such  intrinsic  success  as  the  book  itself  is. 

"  Yours  ever, 

"  Coventry  Patmore. 

"  I  am  rejoiced  to  hear  of  your  wife's  health." 


2l6  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  good-will  to  The  Early  Italian  Poets  was  not 
confined  to  words.  After  another  publisher  had  been  con- 
sulted without  definite  upshot,  the  MS.  was  offered  to 
Ruskin's  publishers  Messrs.  Smith  and  Elder,  and  they 
agreed  to  undertake  the  risk,  subject  (it  would  seem)  to  an 
advance  or  guarantee  of  .£100  by  Ruskin.  The  book  came 
out  in  1 86 1,  and  was  extremely  well  received.  I  might  even 
say  it  was  received  with  general  acclaim,  so  far  as  a  work  of 
poetical  translation  ever  can  be  welcomed  and  applauded  in 
England.  By  1869  about  600  copies  of  it  had  sold  ;  and  the 
profits  covered  the  £100  of  Mr.  Ruskin,  and  a  minute  dole  of 
less  than  £9  to  Rossetti.  A  few  copies,  64,  still  remained 
on  hand.  It  has  been  stated  that  Mr.  Ruskin  subsidized 
Rossetti  in  bringing  out  not  only  The  Early  Italian  Poets, 
but  also  the  volume  of  original  Poems,  1870.  But  this  is  quite 
erroneous. 

My  brother  had  intended  to  produce  some  etchings  to 
illustrate  the  volume.  He  made  a  graceful  design  of  two 
lovers  kissing,1  which  was  engraved,  and  formed  the  founda- 
tion of  his  water-colour  entitled  TJie  Rose-garden.  Even  as 
late  as  18  June  1861  he  thought  of  doing  the  etchings, 
and  giving  them  in  gratis  if  the  publishers  would  not  com- 
pensate him.  At  last  this  project  was  abandoned,  and  the 
book  appeared  without  any  designs. 

At  some  time — it  may  have  been  before  1861 — Rossetti 
showed  a  number  of  his  original  poems  to  Ruskin,  with  a 
direct  view  to  the  publication  of  some  of  them  in  the  Corn  hill 
Magazine,  issued  by  Messrs.  Smith  and  Elder,  and  then 
edited  by  Thackeray  (the  latter  must  have  been  known  to 
my  brother  by  sight,  but  I  question  whether  they  ever 
interchanged  a  word).  Ruskin  admired  the  poems  to  a  large 
extent,  but  raised  objections  to  one  and  another,  and  no 
magazine-publishing  ensued.     Rossetti  however  was  still  bent 

1  To  my  surprise,  I  lately  saw,  in  an  American  journal,  this  design, 
modernized  in  costume,  adopted  to  bedeck  the  advertisement  of  some 
tradesman  for  his  "washing-powder" — a  queer  phase  of  metempsy- 
chosis. 


WORK   IN    1 860-6 1.  217 

upon  bringing  the  poems  out ;  and  the  volume  of  The  Early 
Italian  Poets  contained  an  intimation  that  Dante  at  Verona, 
and  other  Poems,  would  shortly  be  printed.  This  also,  as  will 
soon  be  seen,  came  to  nothing. 

It  was,  I  believe,  in  i860  that  an  enterprise  which  has 
proved  to  be  of  no  less  than  national  importance  was  set  on 
foot.  I  mean  the  foundation  of  the  Decorative  Firm  which, 
known  at  first  as  "  Morris,  Marshall,  Falkner,  and  Co.,"  is  now 
named  "  Morris  and  Company."  One  may  note  it  as  rather 
curious  that  this  Firm  consisted  of  the  same  number  of  men, 
seven,  as  the  Praeraphaelite  Brotherhood.  The  Brotherhood 
introduced  into  painting  something  that  might  well  be  called 
a  revolution,  and  the  Firm  introduced  into  decoration  some- 
thing still  more  revolutionary  for  widespread  and  as  yet 
permanent  effect.     Rossetti  was  prominent  in  both  adventures. 

The  seven  members  of  the  Firm — I  will  name  them  in 
what  appears  to  me  to  be  the  approximate  order  of  chei*' 
importance  in  bringing  this  scheme  into  working-order — 
were  William  Morris,  Madox  Brown,  Burne-Jones,  Rossetti, 
Philip  Webb,  Peter  Paul  Marshall,  and  Charles  Falkner. 
Mr.  Webb  is  an  architect  of  much  originality  of  view,  and 
practical  attainment  and  skill.  He  built,  among  other  things, 
the  Red  House  at  Upton  tenanted  by  Mr.  Morris.  He 
has  also  marked  ability  in  designing  for  stained  glass  and 
other  forms  of  decoration,  especially  in  the  way  of  animal 
life.  Mr.  Marshall  was  the  first  originator  of  the  idea  of 
such  a  Firm.  He  is  an  engineer  (now  for  many  years  settled 
in  Norwich),  son-in-law  to  Mr.  John  Miller,  the  merchant  and 
picture-collector  in  Liverpool,  and  is  besides  a  capable  painter 
who  might,  under  differing  circumstances,  have  passed  out 
of  the  amateur  into  the  professional  stage  of  work.  I  believe 
Rossetti  was  the  first  person  to  whom  he  broached  his  idea  ; 
he  eagerly  caught  at  it,  and  imparted  it  to  others.  Mr. 
Falkner,  an  Oxford  Mathematician  and  close  friend  of  Mr. 
Morris,  took  no  part  in  the  practical  work  of  the  Firm,  but 
gave  it  his  willing  support ;  and  I  suppose  that  he,  like  each 
of  the  others,  put  a  modicum  of  money  into  it.     What  this 


218  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTI 

modicum  was — in  my  brother's  or  in  any  case — I  do  not 
know.  As  to  Rossetti,  at  any  rate,  I  presume  it  to  have  been 
decidedly  small.  Mr.  Morris  was  on  a  different  footing  in 
this  respect.  He  ventured  something  very  substantial,  and, 
but  for  him,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the  Firm  would  not 
have  been  constituted  at  all.  They  set  up  in  the  secluded 
but  decorous  quarters  of  Queen  Square,  Bloomsbury  ;  or  I 
think,  first  of  all,  in  Red  Lion  Square. 

They  were  all  young  men — the  senior,  Madox  Brown, 
being  aged  thirty-nine  in  i860;  and  there  was  a  deal  of 
jollity  among  them.  Indeed  there  was  always  jollity  where 
Rossetti  was  present — not  to  speak  of  Morris  and  Brown, 
who  were  the  heartiest  of  the  hearty,  or  of  any  of  the  other 
members  ;  for  nothing  is  more  contrary  to  fact,  or  more 
absurd  to  the  reminiscence  of  those  who  knew  him  in  the 
old  days,  than  the  current  notion  that  Rossetti  was  a  vague 
and  gloomy  phantasist,  combined  of  mysticism  and  self- 
opinion,  who  was  always  sunk  in  despondency,  or  fizzing 
with  affectation,  or  airing  some  intangible  ideal.  I  must 
apologize  to  his  loved  memory  for  even  alluding  to  such 
a  trumpery  misconception.  Winged  was  the  jest  and  loud 
and  contagious  the  laugh  from  his  full  lips.  Had  there  been 
no  one  else  to  keep  his  colleagues  in  heart  and  humour, 
his  own  resources  would  have  sufficed.  To  some  of  these 
highly  distinguished  colleagues  it  would  be  unjust  to  say 
that  Rossetti  was  primus  inter  pares  ;  but  certainly  he  was 
nidli  secundus.  Nature  had  endowed  him  in  ample  measure 
with  one  of  her  most  precious  secrets — that  of  dominance, 
leadership,  and  comradeship,  each  in  its  proper  place.  No 
more  downright  and  no  more  unpretentious  man  existed 
within  the  four  seas.  How  long  his  vigorous  temperament 
continued  to  scintillate  into  high  spirits  we  shall  see  as  we 
proceed.    There  were  flashes  of  it  till  the  last. 

The  more  one  reflects  upon  it,  the  more  surprising  it  seems 
that  three  youths,  almost  boys,  started,  in  great  lightness  of 
heart  and  disregard  of  externals,  if  also  with  a  most  resolute 
purpose    at    the   core,   so   serious    a    movement   as    that    of 


WORK   IN    1 860-6 1.  219 

Praeraphaelitism ;  and  that,  with  some  assistance  from  the 
same  quarter,  other  youths — I  mean  more  especially  Morris 
and  Jones — founded,  in  very  much  the  same  temper  of  mind, 
so  vast  a  recasting  and  reform  of  decorative  art  as  is 
identified  with  the  name  and  the  fortunes  of  "  Morris, 
Marshall,  Falkner,  and  Co."  Clearly,  without  reality  of  genius, 
of  insight,  and  of  labour,  neither  of  these  enterprises  would 
have  made  the  least  headway.  A  puff  of  wind,  a  treacherous 
sand-bank,  a  sunken  reef,  or  a  rock-bound  coast — and  more 
than  enough  of  all  these  were  at  hand — would  have  made 
short  work  of  the  whole  craft. 

Light  or  boisterous  chaff  among  themselves,  and  something 
very  like  dictatorial  irony  towards  customers,  were  the 
methods  by  which  this  singular  commercial  firm  was  con- 
ducted, and  was  turned,  after  a  longish  period  of  uncertain 
probation,  into  a  flourishing  success.  There  was  no  com- 
promise. Mr.  Morris,  as  the  managing  partner,  laid  down 
the  law,  and  all  his  clients  had  to  bend  or  break.  Frequent 
meetings — of  the  least  business-like  aspect  of  business,  and 
yet  thoroughly  efficient,  as  the  event  proved — were  held  ;  and 
the  only  designation  for  the  undertaking  which  passed  current 
with  the  partners  or  their  intimates  was  "  the  Shop."  From 
the  first  the  Firm  turrjed  out  whatever  any  one  wanted  in  the 
way  of  decorative  material — architectural  adjuncts,  furniture, 
tapestries,  embroideries,  stained  glass,  wall-papers,  and  what 
not.  The  goods  were  first-rate,  the  art  and  the  workmanship 
excellent,  the  prices  high.  No  concession  was  made  to  indi- 
vidual tastes  or  want  of  taste,  no  question  of  abatement  was 
entertained.  You  could  have  the  things  such  as  the  Firm 
chose  that  they  should  be,  or  you  could  do  without  them. 

A  detailed  history  of  the  Firm  of  Morris,  Marshall, 
Falkner,  and  Co.,  or  Morris  and  Company,  would  by  this 
time  be  an  interesting  thing ;  but  it  is  not  my  affair  to 
write  one,  nor  indeed  have  I  any  means  of  doing  so,  even  if 
the  inclination  served.  I  must  limit  myself  to  a  few  particu- 
lars regarding  my  brother's  work  in  this  connexion.  As  I 
have  before  implied,  he  was  not  the  leading  spirit  in  the  Firm. 


220  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Mr.  Morris  came  much  the  foremost,  not  only  by  being 
constantly  on  the  spot,  to  work,  direct,  and  transact,  but  also 
by  his  abnormal  and  varied  aptitude  at  all  kinds  of  practical 
processes.  Mr.  Madox  Brown  had  always  taken  a  more  than 
common  interest  in  decorative  art  as  applied  to  household- 
requirements  ;  and  his  activity,  as  well  as  that  of  Mr.  Burne- 
Jones,  in  designing  for  stained  glass  and  other  such  matters, 
far  exceeded  any  that  Rossetti  was  called  upon  to  display. 
Mr.  Webb  must  likewise  have  done  a  solid  amount  of  work. 
Towards  the  beginning  of  1865  an  acquaintance  of  my 
brother,  Mr.  Warrington  Taylor,  was  brought  into  the  busi- 
ness as  a  manager  and  accountant.  He  did  excellent  service 
in  keeping  things  straight  and  safe  ;  but  this  only  lasted  a 
few  years,  as  he  died  young  of  consumption.  He  had  very 
good  perceptions  in  various  matters  of  art,  especially  music. 

My  brother  was  entitled  to  a  certain  proportional  share  in 
the  profits  of  the  partnership,  and  besides  he  was  paid  at  a 
regulated  rate  for  such  designs  as  he  produced.  With  few 
exceptions,  these  were  for  stained  glass.  For  St.  Martin's, 
Scarborough,  he  designed  two  lights — Adam  and  Eve  in 
Paradise.  There  were  also  seven  glass-cartoons  of  The 
Parable  of  the  Vineyard  (very  able  compositions,  with  plenty 
of  dramatic  character) ;  six  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon  ; 
and  The  Last  Judgment,  nine  subjects  within  a  circle.  At  a 
later  date,  1869,  he  drew  The  Sermon  on  the  Plain,  for  a 
window  in  Christ  Church,  Albany  Street,  in  memory  of  our 
Aunt  Margaret  Polidori.  These  are  the  only  designs  for  the 
Morris  firm  (besides  the  pulpit-painting,  previously  specified, 
of  The  Annunciatioii)  which  appear  to  be  known  to  me. 
There  may  perhaps  be  others  in  a  set  of  glass-cartoons  now 
in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Theodore  Watts. 

XXV. 
DEATH  OF  MRS.   DANTE  ROSSETTI. 

ROSSETTI'S    married    life  lasted  from    23    May    i860  to   11 
February    1862.     The   essence    of   his    wife's    illness   was,    I 


DEATH   OF   MRS.   DANTE   ROSSETTI.  221 

apprehend,  phthisis,  with  the  accompaniment  of  a  great  deal 
of  acute  and  wearing  neuralgia.  It  was  for  the  neuralgia  that 
she  had  been  medically  authorized  or  directed  to  take  frequent 
doses  of  laudanum.  The  phthisis  had  not  as  yet  brought  on 
any  noticeable  degree  of  emaciation  ;  but  it  was  running  its 
course,  and  he  would  have  been  a  sanguine  person  who,  at 
the  beginning  of  [862,  could  anticipate  for  her  more  than 
some  five  or  six  years  of  life  at  the  utmost.  Though  she  was 
often  kept  within-doors  by  illness,  her  habits  were  not  those 
of  a  recluse,  and  she  frequently  accompanied  her  husband  to 
dinner  at  some  public  dining-room  or  other.  She  had  very 
little  of  a  housewifely  turn.  She  often  sat  to  him — and  did 
this,  only  a  few  days  before  her  last,  for  the  figure  of  the 
Princess  Sabra  in  the  water-colour  which  is  called  either 
St.  George  and  the  Princess  Sabra,  or  St.  George  and  the 
Dragon.  She  is  shown  holding  the  knight's  helmet,  filled  with 
water  to  lave  the  bloodstains  of  his  recent  conflict.  This 
was  the  latest  occasion  on  which  Lizzie  sat  for  any  head. 

On  10  February  1862  Rossetti  and  his  wife,  with  Mr. 
Swinburne,  dined  at  the  Sabloniere  Hotel  in  Leicester  Square. 
She  was  not  less  well  than  usual,  and  joined  in  the  talk  with 
animation.  She  returned  with  her  husband  to  their  home 
in  Chatham  Place.  He  went  out  again,  and  was  back  late.  I 
will  quote  here  the  few  words  which  I  jotted  down  on  the 
following  day,  as  a  memento  for  my  own  use.  It  is  of  the 
scantiest,  but  must  serve  for  our  present  purpose  : — 

"February  11.  Death  of  poor  Lizzie,  Gabriel's  wife.  Coming 
home  last  night  past  it  from  the  Working  Men's  College,  he 
found  her  almost  gone  from  the  effects  of  laudanum;  and,  spite 
of  the  efforts  of  four  doctors,  she  died  towards  7!  this  morn- 
ing. [One  of  the  doctors  was  Mr.  John  Marshall,  at  that  time 
a  Surgeon,  finally  M.D.  He  became  Professor  of  Anatomy  to  the 
Royal  Academy,  and  President  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons. 
He  was  intimate  with  Madox  Brown,  and  hence  with  Rossetti,  who 
very  frequently  consulted  him  on  his  own  account  in  after  years.] 
I  was  called  from  Somerset  House  about  12^  [by  Mrs.  Birrell, 
the   housekeeper   of  the  Chambers   14  Chatham   Place,  who  had 


222  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

been  there  during  the  entire  duration  of  my  brother's  stay].  Brown, 
whom  Gabriel  had  called  on  before  5  in  the  morning,  was  there 
[his  residence  was  then  near  Highgate  Rise],  and  told  me  the 
circumstances.  Lizzie  and  Gabriel  had  dined  at  a  Hotel  with 
Swinburne  that  afternoon.  The  poor  thing  looks  wonderfully  calm 
now  and  beautiful. 

"  '  Ed  avea  in  se  umilta.  si  verace 

Che  parea  che  dicesse,   Io  sono  in  pace.'1 

I  could  not  but  think  of  that  all  the  time  I  looked  at  her,  it  is  so 
exactly  like." 

The  only  further  particulars  I  find  in  any  book  regarding 
Mrs.  Rossetti's  death  are  given  by  Mr.  Bell  Scott,  who  must 
apparently  have  heard  them  from  the  widower.  He  simply 
says  that  Rossetti,  after  taking  her  back  to  Chatham  Place, 
"  advised  her  to  go  to  bed "  ;  and  "  on  his  next  and  final 
home-coming  he  had  to  grope  about  for  a  light,  and  called  to 
her  without  receiving  a  reply." 

Of  course  there  was  an  inquest,  of  which  I  shall  proceed  to 
give  the  only  newspaper  account  which  I  possess.  It  may 
come  from  the  Daily  News,  but  I  am  not  sure.  I  do  not 
think  that  any  other  newspaper  account,  in  the  least  degree 
detailed,  appeared — a  fact  which  sufficiently  shows  that  to  the 
great  bulk  of  the  British  public  the  name  of  Dante  Gabriel 
Rossetti  continued  practically  unknown  at  the  beginning  of 
1862.  I  was  present  at  the  inquest,  but  omitted  to  keep 
any  record   of   it.     My   brother   braced    himself  manfully   to 

1  This  couplet  comes  from  Dante's  Vita  Nuova,  the  poem  which  relates 
his  prevision  of  the  death  of  Beatrice.     In  my  brother's  translation  it  is 

rendered  thus : — 

"And  with  her  was  such  very  humbleness 
That  she  appeared  to  say,   I  am  at  peace." 

This  subject  had  been  already  painted  by  Rossetti  as  a  water-colour,  and 
it  forms  the  theme  of  his  largest  oil-picture,  Dante's  Dream,  now  in  the 
Walker  Art-gallery  of  Liverpool.  In  neither  of  these  works  was  his  wife 
represented  as  Beatrice.  Mrs.  Hannay  sat  in  the  first  instance,  and  Mrs. 
Morris  in  the  second. 


DEATH   OF   MRS.   DANTE   ROSSETTI.  223 

the  painful  effort  of  giving  evidence  ;  and  his  deposition  was 
followed  (though  not  so  shown  in  the  newspaper)  by  those  of 
Mr.  Swinburne,  and  of  Mrs.  Birrell  who  testified  to  uniformly 
affectionate  relations  between  the  husband  and  wife. 
The  following  is  the  newspaper-paragraph  : — 

"Death  of  a  Lady  from  an  Overdose  of  Laudanum. — On 
Thursday  Mr.  Payne  held  an  inquest  at  Bridewell  Hospital  on  the 
body  of  Eliza  Eleanor  Rosetti,  aged  twenty-nine,  wife  of  Dante 
Gabriel  Rosetti,  Artist,  of  No.  14  Chatham  Place,  Blackfriars,  who 
came  to  her  death  under  very  melancholy  circumstances.  Mr. 
Rosetti  stated  that  on  Monday  afternoon,  between  six  and  seven 
o'clock,  he  and  his  wife  went  out  in  the  carriage  for  the  purpose  of 
dining  with  a  friend  at  the  Sabloniere  Hotel,  Leicester  Square  [the 
term  '  the  carriage '  seems  to  suggest  that  my  brother  kept  a  carriage 
of  his  own,  which  was  most  assuredly  not  the  fact].  When  they  had 
got  about  halfway  there  his  wife  appeared  to  be  very  drowsy,  and 
he  wished  her  to  return.  She  objected  to  their  doing  so,  and  they 
proceeded  to  the  Hotel,  and  dined  there.  They  returned  home  at 
eight  o'clock,  when  she  appeared  somewhat  excited.  He  left  home 
again  at  nine  o'clock,  his  wife  being  then  about  to  go  to  bed.  On 
his  return  at  half-past  eleven  o'clock  he  found  his  wife  in  bed,  snoring 
loudly  and  utterly  unconscious.  She  was  in  the  habit  of  taking 
laudanum,  and  he  had  known  her  take  as  much  as  100  drops 
at  a  time,  and  he  thought  she  had  been  taking  it  before  they 
went  out.  He  found  a  phial  on  a  table  at  the  bedside,  which  had 
contained  laudanum,  but  it  was  then  empty.  A  doctor  was  sent 
for,  and  promptly  attended.  She  had  expressed  no  wish  to  die,  but 
quite  the  reverse.  Indeed  she  contemplated  going  out  of  town  in 
a  day  or  two,  and  had  ordered  a  new  mantle  which  she  intended 
wearing  on  the  occasion.  He  believed  she  took  the  laudanum  to 
soothe  her  nerves.  She  could  not  sleep  or  take  food  unless  she 
used  it. — Mr.  Hutchinson,  of  Bridge  Street,  Blackfriars,  said  he  had 
attended  the  deceased  in  her  confinement  in  April  with  a  stillborn 
child.  He  saw  her  on  Monday  night  at  half-past  eleven  o'clock, 
and  found  her  in  a  comatose  state.  He  tried  to  rouse  her,  but  could 
not,  and  then  tried  the  stomach-pump  without  avail.  He  injected 
several  quarts  of  water  into  the  stomach,  and  washed  it  out,  when 
the   smell   of  laudanum  was  very  distinct.     He   and   three  other 


224  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

medical  gentlemen  stayed  with  her  all  night,  and  she  died  at  twenty 
minutes  past  seven  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning. — The  jury  returned 
a  verdict  of  Accidental  Death." 

Our  mother  and  sisters  and  myself  were  constantly  with 
Dante  during  those  harrowing  days  which  intervene  between 
a  death  and  a  funeral.  His  anguish  was  keen,  but  his  mind 
clear.  He  was  not  prostrated  in  that  kind  of  way  which 
makes  a  man  incapable  of  self-regulation.  Brown  was  often 
there,  and  the  sister  of  Lizzie  playfully  nicknamed  "  the 
Roman."  I  recollect  a  moment  of  great  agitation,  when  my 
brother,  standing  by  the  corpse,  was  crying  out,  "  Oh  Lizzie, 
Lizzie,  come  back  to  me  !  "  With  a  woman's  kindly  tact  the 
sister  felt  that  this  was  an  instant  when  emotion  should  be 
seconded,  and  not  controlled  ;  and  she  reminded  him  of  some 
old  touches  of  sportive  and  now  pathetic  affection,  to  give 
the  freer  flow  to  his  tears.  Mr.  Ruskin  called  one  day,  and 
saw  the  rest  of  us,  but  not  Dante.  He  spoke  with  his  usual 
tenderness  of  feeling,  and  I  then  for  the  first  time  became 
aware  of  the  great  change  which  had  taken  place  in  his  views 
on  religion.  On  the  second  or  third  day  after  death  Lizzie 
looked  still  lovelier  than  before,  and  Dante  almost  refused 
to  believe  that  she  was  really  dead — it  might  be  a  mere 
trance  consequent  upon  the  laudanum.  He  insisted  that 
Mr.  Marshall  should  be  called  in  to  decide — with  what  result 
I  need  not  say. 

The  day  of  the  funeral  came.  On  this  also  I  have  a  very 
brief  note : — 

"February  17.  The  funeral.  Grave  5779,  Highgate  [the  same 
grave  in  which  my  father  lay  buried — my  mother  is  now  there  too, 
and,  even  since  I  wrote  this  very  sentence,  my  dear  sister  Christina]. 
Gabriel  put  the  book  of  his  MS.  poems  into  the  coffin." 

I  remember  this  incident.  There  were  some  friends  as- 
sembled in  one  of  the  rooms  in  Chatham  Place  ;  the  coffin, 
not  yet  close-shut,  was  in  another.  My  brother,  unwitnessed, 
deposited  the  MS.  in  the  coffin.     He  then  joined  his  friends, 


DEATH   Of   MRS.   DANTE   ROSSETTf.  22$ 

and  informed  Madox  Brown  of  what  he  had  done,  saying — 
"  1  have  often  been  writing  at  those  poems  when  Lizzie  was 
ill  and  suffering,  and  I  might  have  been  attending  to  her, 
and  now  they  shall  go."  Brown  disapproved  of  such  a 
sacrifice  to  a  mere  impulse  of  grief  or  of  self-reproach,  and 
he  appealed  to  me  to  remonstrate.  I  replied — "  Well,  the 
feeling  does  him  honour,  and  let  him  do  as  he  likes."  The 
sacrifice  was  no  doubt  a  grave  one.  Rossetti  thus  not  only 
renounced  any  early  or  definite  hopes  of  poetic  fame,  which 
had  always  been  a  ruling  passion  with  him,  but  he  also 
abandoned  a  project  already  distinctly  formulated  and  noti- 
fied ;  for,  as  we  have  seen,  a  forthcoming  volume  of  his 
original  poems  was  advertised  in  The  Early  Italian  Poets. 

Mr.  Caine  relates  this  matter  somewhat  differently.  I  do 
not  know  from  whom  he  obtained  his  details  ;  where  they 
may  be  considered  incompatible  with  my  reminiscence,  I 
abide  by  my  own.     He  says  : — 

"  The  poems  he  had  written,  so  far  as  they  were  poems  of  love, 
were  chiefly  inspired  by  and  addressed  to  her.  At  her  request  he 
had  copied  them  into  a  little  book  presented  to  him  for  the  purpose  ; 
and  on  the  day  of  the  funeral  he  walked  into  the  room  where  the 
body  lay,  and,  unmindful  of  the  presence  of  friends,  he  spoke  to  his 
dead  wife  as  though  she  heard,  saying,  as  he  held  the  book,  that  the 
words  it  contained  were  written  to  her  and  for  her,  and  she  must 
take  them  with  her,  for  they  could  not  remain  when  she  had  gone. 
Then  he  put  the  volume  into  the  coffin  between  her  cheek  and 
beautiful  hair,  and  it  was  that  day  buried  with  her  in  Highgate 
Cemetery." 

Probably  very  few  letters  from  Rossetti  are  extant  written 
immediately  after  and  relating  to  his  wife's  death.  With  his 
closest  friends  he  was  in  personal  communication,  and  to 
others  he  would  be  by  no  means  expansive  on  such  a  topic. 
There  is,  however,  one  letter  in  print,  addressed  to  Mrs. 
Gilchrist,  and  I  think  it  as  well  to  reproduce  it  here.  In 
the  opening  paragraph  he  refers  to  the  fact  that  he  had  so 
recently  had  to  condole  with  Mrs.  Gilchrist  on  her  husband's 
death,  and  now  she  was  condoling  with  himself  on  his  wife's. 

VOL.  I.  15 


226  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

"45  Upper  Albany  Street,1  2  March  1862. 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Gilchrist, — 

"  I  thank  you  sincerely  in  my  turn  for  the  words  of  sorrow 
and  sympathy  which,  coming  from  you,  seem  more  terribly  real  than 
any  I  have  received.  I  remember  clearly  the  mistrustful  feeling  of 
insufficiency  with  which  I  sat  down  to  write  to  you  so  short  a  time 
ago,  and  know  now  what  it  is  both  to  write  and  to  receive  even  the 
sincerest  words  at  such  a  time. 

"  I  have  now  to  be  thankful  for  obligations  connected  with  my 
work  which  were  a  source  of  anxiety  before ;  for  without  them  it 
seems  to  me  that  I  could  never  work  again.  But  I  already  begin  to 
find  the  inactive  moments  the  most  unbearable,  and  must  hope  for 
the  power,  as  I  feel  most  surely  the  necessity,  of  working  steadily 
without  delay.  Of  my  dear  wife  I  do  not  dare  to  speak  now,  nor  to 
attempt  any  vain  conjecture  whether  it  may  ever  be  possible  for 
me,  or  I  be  found  worthy,  to  meet  her  again. 

"  I  am  staying  at  my  mother's  just  now,  and  hope  that  some  of  my 
family,  if  not  all,  may  join  with  me  in  seeking  a  new  home  together, 
as  in  any  case  I  cannot  any  longer  bear  to  remain  in  the  old  one. 
I  have  thoughts  of  coming  if  possible  to  Chelsea,2  and  have  already, 
in  the  impossibility  I  find  of  remaining  inactive,  been  seeking  for 
fresh  quarters  in  that  and  other  directions.  Your  photograph  [of 
Alexander  Gilchrist]  I  still  have,  and  hope  to  send  you  some  result 
from  it,  if  I  find  such  possible  [he  was  thinking  of  drawing  some 
likeness  of  Gilchrist,  founded  partly  on  the  photograph,  but  in  this 
he  did  not  succeed].  Whenever  it  may  be  necessary  to  be  thinking 
about  the  Life  of  Blake  I  hope  you  will  let  me  know,  as  my 
brother  is  equally  anxious  with  myself,  and  perhaps  at  the  present 
moment  better  able,  to  be  of  any  service  in  his  power. 

"  While  writing  this,  I  have  just  read  your  letter  again,  and  again 
feel  forcibly  the  bond  of  misery  which  exists  between  us,  and  the 
unhappy  right  we  have  of  saying  to  each  other  what  we  both  know 
to  be  fruitless.  Pray  believe  that  I  am  not  the  less  grateful  to  you, 
at  least  for  the  heartfelt  warmth  with  which  it  is  said." 

1  This  was  the  residence  of  my  mother  and  sisters  and  myself.  Later 
on  it  was  called  166  Albany  Street. 

2  The  joint  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gilchrist  had  been  in  Chelsea,  close  to 
Carlyle's  house.  Mrs.  Gilchrist  was  now  just  about  removing  into  the 
country,  Shottermill  near  Haslemere. 


SETTLING   IN    CHEYNE   WALK.  227 

XXVI. 
SETTLING    IN   CHEYNE    WALK. 

THE  letter  just  cited  has  shown  two  points  :  that  Rossetti, 
after  his  bereavement,  did  not  feel  equal  to  continuing  to 
reside  at  Chatham  Place — I  hardly  believe  that  he  slept  there 
even  a  single  night  after  his  wife's  funeral — and  that  he 
thought,  upon  settling  in  some  new  house,  of  obtaining  the 
companionship  of  some  or  all  of  the  members  of  his  family. 
These  were  our  mother,  our  two  sisters,  myself,  and  our 
rather  aged  aunt,  Margaret  Polidori,  now  considerably  in- 
valided, and  living  a  very  secluded  life  in  my  house 
166  Albany  Street.  My  brother  also  particularly  wanted 
to  have  Mr.  Swinburne  in  the  same  house  with  himself, 
thinking,  not  unreasonably,  that,  in  his  own  depressed  state 
of  mind,  he  needed  some  inspiriting  association  such  as  he 
could  scarcely  obtain  from  mere  family-life,  and  that  he  could 
procure  this  better  from  Mr.  Swinburne  than  from  any  other 
available  person.  The  Chambers  in  Chatham  Place  were, 
after  Rossetti's  departure,  tenanted  by  Mr.  Boyce,  who 
remained  there  until  1868,  shortly  preceding  the  final  demoli- 
tion of  the  building. 

The  various  members  of  the  family  did  in  fact  entertain  the 
proposal  raised  by  Dante ;  the  only  serious  difficulty  arising 
in  relation  to  our  sister  Maria,  who  went  out  giving  lessons 
in  Italian  etc.,  and  for  whom  any  such  locality  as  Chelsea — 
then  more  suburban  than  it  is  now — would  have  been  a  very 
remote  centre  for  such  purposes.  This  obstacle  was,  however, 
set  aside  ;  and,  my  brother  having  pretty  soon  fixed  upon 
No.  16  Cheyne  Walk,  Chelsea,  termed  Tudor  House,  as  his 
future  home,  we  were  all  prepared  to  join  there  with  him  and 
with  Mr.  Swinburne.  But  this  arrangement  did  not  take 
effect.  Before  the  time  came  for  actually  removing  to  Cheyne 
Walk  my  brother  reached  the  conclusion — a  sound  one — that 
that  would  not  be  the  most  apposite  of  homes  for  his  female 
relatives,  who  therefore  remained  in  Albany  Street ;  glad  to 


228  DANTE  GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

house  with  and  look  after  Dante,  if  that  had  been  his  ultimate 
wish,  and  glad  also,  when  the  wish  was  relinquished,  to  abide 
where  they  were. 

At  first  Dante  stayed  with  us  in  the  Albany  Street  house, 
and  he  was  also  at  times  with  Madox  Brown.  It  is  stated  by 
Mr.  William  Sharp  that  the  earliest  thing  which  he  painted 
after  his  wife's  death  was  done  at  Brown's  residence — "a 
small  but  richly  toned  water-colour,  known  simply  as  Girl  at 
a  Lattice"  pourtrayed  from  a  person  he  saw  in  this  position. 
I  think,  however,  that  a  crayon  head  of  our  mother,  which 
bears  the  date  February  1862,  may  have  preceded  even  the 
Girl  at  a  Lattice.  It  remains  in  my  possession,  and  used  con- 
stantly to  hang  in  my  brother's  little  breakfast-room  in  Cheyne 
Walk.  Next,  pending  a  definite  settlement  as  to  a  house,  he 
took  Chambers,  by  himself,  on  the  first  floor  of  No.  59  Lin- 
coln's Inn  Fields.  The  first  distracting  shock  of  his  calamity 
being  past,  he  found  himself  capable  of  working  and  acting 
like  other  men,  and  the  Chambers  proved  to  be  quite  suitable 
for  his  requirements  ;  so  much  so  indeed  that,  when  he  had 
to  leave  them  and  take  up  his  engagement  in  Cheyne  Walk, 
he  almost  regretted  that  he  had  assumed  so  serious,  and  for 
him  so  novel,  a  responsibility,  with  all  the  upset  (to  which  he 
was  always  highly  disinclined)  of  removal  and  re-settling. 
The  die  was  cast,  however,  and  nothing  remained  but  to  meet 
its  chances  as  they  came. 

For  the  Cheyne  Walk  house  a  new  plan  had  meanwhile 
been  determined.  Rossetti  was  to  be  the  tenant,  paying  a 
rent  (assuredly  a  very  moderate  one)  of  ;£ioo  a  year,  besides 
— if  I  remember  right — a  premium  of  .^225  upon  entering. 
As  his  sub-tenants  for  defined  portions  of  the  building  there 
were  to  be  three  persons — Mr.  Swinburne,  Mr.  George  Mere- 
dith, and  myself.  Of  course  each  of  us  three  was  to  pay 
something  to  Dante ;  though  the  latter  did  not  wish  me, 
and  in  fact  did  not  allow  me,  to  continue  any  such  payment 
after  affairs  had  got  into  their  regular  course.  We  were  all 
to  dine  together,  if  present  together  in  the  house.  Mr. 
Swinburne   was  generally  present,  Mr.  Meredith  much  less 


SETTLING   IN   CHEYNE   WALK.  229 

constantly.  I  came  on  three  fixed  days  of  the  week,  but 
not  on  any  others  unless  some  particular  occasion  arose. 
Swinburne,  and  I  think  Meredith,  had  their  respective  separate 
sitting-rooms,  in  which  they  received  their  personal  visitors. 
I  had,  and  required,  a  bedroom  only.  Dante  Rossetti  was 
by  this  time  familiar  with  Mr.  Meredith,  whom  he  had  seen 
increasingly  for  some  three  years  past,  and  whose  talents  and 
work  he  seriously,  though  not  uncritically,  admired  ;  familiar, 
yet  by  no  means  so  much  so  as  with  Mr.  Swinburne. 

Tudor  House  got  not  slightly  altered  in  external  appear- 
ance— not  perhaps  in  structural  essentials — soon  after  my 
brother's  death.  When  he  entered  it,  neither  Cheyne  Walk 
nor  any  part  of  London  had  a  Thames  Embankment ;  in 
front  of  the  house  there  were  all  the  boating  bustle  and 
longshore  litter  of  the  old  days  :  there  was  also  no  Cadogan 
Bridge,  and  across  the  river  no  Battersea  Park.  Cremorne 
Gardens,  at  a  moderate  distance  to  the  West,  were  still  open 
as  a  place  of  demi-reputable  entertainment — dancing,  music, 
fireworks,  and  assignations,  with  all  their  accompaniments 
and  sequels.  The  look  of  things  was  far  more  picturesque 
than  now — less  of  decorum  and  of  stateliness,  more  of  noise 
and  movement.  The  house  itself  was  a  fine  old  solid  edifice, 
without  anything  peculiar  or  showy  in  external  aspect.  Inside 
it  was  old-fashioned,  many-roomed,  homelike,  and  comfortable, 
with  any  number  of  wall-cupboards,  and  needing  nothing 
beyond  good  furniture  and  proper  keeping-up  to  be  a  highly 
enjoyable  residence.  Furniture  was  supplied  by  my  brother 
— even  from  the  first,  but  more  especially  as  years  went  on — 
with  profuse  abundance  and  distinguished  gusto  for  whatso- 
ever was  good  and  appropriate.  Before  going  into  the  house 
he  had  found  out  in  Buckingham  Street,  Strand  (through 
Mr.  Allingham),  a  retired  old  gentleman  named  Minister, 
who  had  a  deal  of  antiquated  and  capital  furniture,  and  from 
him  he  bought  largely  with  a  free  hand.  As  to  the  keeping- 
up  of  the  house,  Rossetti  did  not  take  the  like  interest  and 
pains  ;  but  still,  for  several  years  after  his  tenancy  began, 
there  was  no  defined  ground  of  complaint. 


23O  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Mr.  Hall  Caine  has  given  several  particulars  about  the 
residence  and  its  garden,  and  I  shall  take  leave  to  borrow 
some  of  them.  He  has  had  experience  in  an  Architect's  office, 
and  knows  what  he  is  talking  about  in  matters  of  this  sort. 
It  will  be  understood  that  he  never  saw  the  premises  until 
1880;  and  many  of  his  details  indicate  a  state  of  neglect 
and  gloom  which  did  not  exist  in  1862,  and  still  less  towards 
1865  and  for  a  few  years  onwards,  when  Rossetti  had  accu- 
mulated large  quantities  of  handsome  and  out-of-the-way 
furniture,  blue  china,  and  other  articles  of  curiosity  and 
virtu.  A  great  store  of  such  things  remained  in  the  house 
in  July  1882,  when,  consequent  upon  his  death,  they  came 
to  the  hammer.  But  even  these  were  but  a  moderate  pro- 
portion of  what  he  had  introduced  and  used  from  time  to 
time.  Much  had  been  already  sold,  much  given  away  or 
otherwise  dispersed.  Mr.  Caine  says,  and  I  interpolate  a 
remark  here  and  there  : — 

"  It  was  called  Tudor  House  when  he  became  its  tenant,  from 
the  tradition  that  Elizabeth  Tudor  had  lived  in  it  [the  statement 
which  I  always  heard  as  current  was  that  the  house  had  been  used 
as  a  nursery  for  the  children  of  Henry  VIII. ;  but  this,  if  true  at 
all,  can  only  apply  to  some  previous  house  on  the  same  site,  for  the 
existing  structure  must  belong  to  the  Georgian  time,  or  at  earliest 
to  that  of  Queen  Anne] :  and  it  is  understood  to  be  the  same  that 
Thackeray  describes  in  Esmond  as  the  home  of  the  old  Countess 
of  Chelsey.  A  large  garden,  which  recently  has  been  cut  off  for 
building  purposes,  lay  at  the  back,  .  .  .  dotted  over  with  lime-trees, 
and  enclosed  by  a  high  wall  [the  garden,  about  four-fifths  of  an 
acre  in  extent,  was  partly,  but  not  wholly,  cut  off  towards  1881  :  it 
contained  a  very  prolific  mulberry -tree,  called  Queen  Elizabeth's 
mulberry-tree].  .  .  .  Old  oak  then  became  for  a  time  his  passion ; 
and,  in  hunting  it  up,  he  rummaged  the  brokers'  shops  round 
London  for  miles,  buying  for  trifles  what  would  eventually  (when  the 
fashion  he  started  grew  to  be  general)  have  fetched  large  sums.  .  .  . 
No.  16  .  .  .  seems  to  be  the  oldest  house  in  the  Walk;  and  the 
exceptional  proportions  of  its  gate-piers,  and  the  weight  and  mass 
of  its  gate  and  railings,  suggest  that  probably  at  some  period  it  stood 


SETTLING   IN   CHEYNE   WALK.  23  I 

alone,  and  commanded  as  grounds  a  large  part  of  the  space  now 
occupied  by  the  adjoining  residences.  .  .  .  Rossetti's  house  had  to 
me  the  appearance  of  a  plain  Queen  Anne's  erection,  much  mutilated 
by  the  introduction  of  unsightly  bay-windows  [I  cannot  but  think 
this  rather  hard  on  the  bay-windows — to  me,  and  to  my  brother 
also,  always  a  pleasant  feature  of  a  house  to  live  in] ;  the  brickwork 
seemed  to  be  falling  into  decay ;  .  .  .  the  angles  of  the  steps,  and 
the  untrodden  flags  of  the  courtyard,  to  be  here  and  there  overgrown 
with  moss  and  weeds.  .  .  .  The  hall  had  a  puzzling  look  of  equal 
nobility  and  shabbiness.  .  .  .  Three  doors  led  out  of  the  hall,  one 
on  each  side  and  one  in  front,  and  two  corridors  opened  into  it ; 
but  there  was  no  sign  of  staircase,  nor  had  it  any  light  except  such 
as  was  borrowed  from  the  fan-light  that  looked  into  the  porch  [the 
door  to  the  right  led  into  the  small  dining-room ;  that  to  the  left, 
into  the  sitting-room  first  used  by  Mr.  Swinburne,  and  ultimately  by 
Mr.  Caine  himself;  the  one  in  front,  into  the  studio,  which,  for 
an  ordinary  tenant,  would  have  been  the  dining-room].  .  .  .  The 
changes  which  the  building  must  have  undergone  since  the  period 
of  its  erection  had  so  filled  it  with  crooks  and  corners  as  to  bewilder 
the  most  ingenious  observer  to  account  for  its  peculiarities.  .  .  .  The 
studio  was  a  large  room,  probably  measuring  thirty  feet  by  twenty, 
and  structurally  as  puzzling  as  the  other  parts  of  the  house.  A 
series  of  columns  and  arches  on  one  side  suggested  that  the  room 
had  almost  certainly  been  at  some  period  the  site  of  an  important 
staircase  with  a  wide  well ;  and  on  the  other  side  a  broad  mullioned 
window,  reaching  to  the  ceiling,  seemed  certainly  to  bear  record 
of  the  occupant's  own  contribution  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  edifice 
[this  window  had  been  enlarged,  but  not  constructed,  at  Rossetti's 
instance  some  while  after  he  entered  the  house].  .  .  .  [Also]  a 
window  at  the  side,  which  was  heavily  darkened  by  the  thick  foliage 
of  the  trees  that  grew  in  the  garden  beyond.  .  .  .  [Rossetti's  bed- 
room, which  was  on  the  first  floor]  was  entered  from  another  and 
smaller  room  which  he  said  that  he  used  as  a  breakfast-room  [many 
a  breakfast  have  I  eaten  in  it,  but  almost  invariably  without  the 
company  of  my  brother,  who  rose  much  later  than  I  did].  The 
outer  room  was  made  fairly  bright  and  cheerful  by  a  glittering 
[coloured  porcelain]  chandelier  (the  property  once,  he  told  me,  of 
David  Garrick),  and,  from  the  rustle  of  trees  against  the  window- 
pane,  one  perceived  that  it  overlooked  the  garden ;  but  the  inner 
room  was  dark  with  heavy  hangings,  around  the  walls  as  well  as 


232  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

the  bed,  and  thick  velvet  curtains  before  the  windows.  .  .  .  An 
enormous  black-oak  chimney-piece  of  curious  design  [it  was  Rossetti's 
own  design,  and  constructed  out  of  decorated  slabs,  etc.,  picked  up 
here  and  there  by  himself],  having  an  ivory  crucifix  on  the  largest 
of  its  ledges,  covered  a  part  of  one  side,  and  reached  to  the  ceiling.  .  .  . 
When  I  reached  the  room  that  I  was  to  occupy  during  the  night 
[it  is  on  a  landing  between  the  ground-floor  and  first-floor],  I  found 
it,  like  Rossetti's  bedroom,  heavy  with  hangings,  and  black  with 
antique  picture-panels,  with  a  ceiling  (unlike  that  of  the  other  rooms 
in  the  house)  out  of  all  reach  or  sight;  and  so  dark  from  various 
causes  that  the  candle  seemed  only  to  glimmer  in  it.  ...  I  strolled 
through  the  large  garden  at  the  back  of  the  house.  ...  A  beautiful 
avenue  of  lime-trees  opened  into  a  grass-plot  of  nearly  an  acre  in 
extent  [it  is  the  grass-plot  which,  allowing  for  a  small  strip  retained, 
was  afterwards  built  over ;  the  avenue  continues  to  be  attached  to 
the  house].  The  trees  were  just  as  Nature  made  them,  and  so  was 
the  grass,  which  in  places  was  lying  long,  dry,  and  withered,  under 
the  sun — -weeds  creeping  up  in  damp  places,  and  the  gravel  of  the 
pathway  scattered  upon  the  verges." 

A  few  words  should  still  be  added  to  Mr.  Caine's  expres- 
sive description  of  the  house.  On  the  basement  there  were 
spacious  kitchen-rooms,  and  an  oddly  complicated  range  of 
vaults,  which  perhaps  had  at  one  time  led  directly  off  to 
the  river-side.  The  two  ground-floor  sitting-rooms  looked 
out  to  the  front  and  the  river ;  the  studio  had  a  second  door 
opening  on  the  hinder  part  of  the  corridor,  and  conducting, 
down  a  few  steps,  into  the  garden-avenue.  Though  not 
apparent  to  Mr.  Caine  from  the  front  hall,  there  were  two 
staircases,  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  of  the  entrance-door 
of  the  studio.  I  may  here  take  occasion  to  give  an  emphatic 
denial  to  a  statement  which  Mr.  Val  Prinsep  (writing  in 
The  Art-Journal  about  the  picture-collection  of  his  father-in- 
law  Mr.  Leyland)  made  with  regard  to  the  studio  or  painting- 
room — that  it  "  was  a  sanctum  unvisited  by  the  housemaid." 
It  was  constantly  visited,  and  adequately  attended  to,  by 
the  housemaid  ;  and  a  housemaid  who  might  have  neglected 
it  in  a  serious  degree  would  not  have  remained  long  on  the 


SETTLING    IN   CHEYNE   WALK.  233 

premises.  Mr.  Caine  makes  no  mention  of  the  chief  feature 
of  the  house — the  unusually  long  and  sightly  drawing-room 
on  the  first  floor,  running  the  whole  length  of  the  large 
frontage,  and  presenting  from  its  three  spacious  bay-windows 
a  most  enjoyable  view  of  the  river,  and  of  the  big  old  trees 
which  yield  umbrage  to  Cheyne  Walk.  On  the  second  floor 
were  a  large  number  of  rooms  used  as  bed-chambers,  hardly 
less  than  a  dozen,  and  some  of  them  very  pleasant  and  com- 
modious. There  may  also,  but  my  recollection  is  not  clear 
as  to  this,  have  been  two  or  three  lofts  under  the  roof.  On 
the  roof  was  a  great  deal  of  lead  ;  and,  at  one  time  during 
my  brother's  occupancy,  some  thieves  attempted  to  make 
free  with  it.  Mr.  Herbert  Gilchrist  produced  a  very  good 
drawing  of  the  studio  before  the  sale  had  finished  in  1882  ; 
Mr.  G.  T.  Robinson  favoured  me  with  a  water-colour  of  the 
drawing-room  ;  and  three  rooms  were  pourtrayed  by  Mr. 
Henry  Treffry  Dunn  (of  whom  more  anon),  and  photographs 
were  taken  from  his  designs. 

It  was  on  24  October  1862  that  Rossetti  first  took  posses- 
sion of  Tudor  House.  His  three  sub-tenants  were  there  on 
the  same  day,  or  immediately  afterwards.  On  3  November  he 
wrote  to  Madox  Brown,  "  I  have  reclaimed  my  studio  from 
the  general  wilderness,  and  got  to  work." 

Some  writers  have  supposed  that  Rossetti  was  constantly 
mournful  and  dejected  after  his  wife's  death.  If  it  were  so, 
I  would  be  the  first  to  confirm  the  statement,  and  to  put 
forward  reasons  partially  if  not  wholly  justifying  him  for  such 
a  tribute  to  sentiment,  and  such  a  revolt  against  the  irre- 
versible will  of  Fate.  But  the  fact  was  not  so,  and,  as  a 
faithful  biographer,  I  shall  not  pretend  that  it  was.  He  had 
too  much  energy  of  mind  and  character,  too  many  interests 
in  the  world  of  thought  and  art,  too  many  ideas  of  his  own, 
too  earnest  a  desire  to  turn  these  into  realized  work,  to  be 
perpetually  dwelling  upon  the  grievousness  of  the  past,  or 
moping  over  what  once  had  been,  and  could  never  be  again. 
He  found  himself  capable  of  living  in  the  ties  and  associations 
of  the  present,  applied  himself  vigorously  to  his  professional 


234  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

occupations,  and  developed  much  eagerness — of  which  there 
had  been  few  symptoms  in  earlier  days — in  the  collection  of 
works  of  decoration  or  curiosity.  To  live  in  the  company 
of  such  men  as  Meredith  and  Swinburne,  and  of  many  other 
friends  older  and  newer,  was  not  the  basis  for  a  life  of  morbid 
gloom  and  piteous  unavailing  retrospect.  Certainly  many 
tender  and  some  dreadful  memories  haunted  him  ;  but  it 
would  be  useless  to  fancy  or  to  suggest  that  he  was  at  this 
time,  or  for  some  years  to  come,  a  personation  of  settled 
melancholy.  As  we  proceed,  we  shall  see  what  new  gusts 
assailed  him,  and  in  what  mood  he  encountered  them. 
Christina  has  put  into  print  a  few  apt  words 1  upon  the  general 
subject.     She  says  : — 

"  Family  or  friendly  parties  used  to  assemble  at  Tudor  House, 
there  to  meet  with  an  unfailing  affectionate  welcome.  Gloom  and 
eccentricity,  such  as  have  been  alleged,  were  at  any  rate  not  the  sole 
characteristics  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti.  When  he  chose  he  became 
the  sunshine  of  his  circle,  and  he  frequently  chose  so  to  be.  His 
ready  wit  and  fun  amused  us ;  his  good-nature  and  kindness  of  heart 
endeared  him  to  us." 

Though  my  proper  date  for  the  present  is  only  that  when 
Rossetti  started  upon  his  tenancy  of  Tudor  House,  I  will 
finish  here  what  has  to  be  said  of  Mr.  Meredith  and  Mr. 
Swinburne  as  inmates  of  the  same  dwelling.  Mr.  Meredith 
and  Rossetti  entertained  a  solid  mutual  regard,  and  got  on 
together  amicably,  yet  without  that  thorough  cordiality  of 
give-and  take  which  oils  the  hinges  of  daily  intercourse.  It 
would  have  been  difficult  for  two  men  of  the  literary  order  of 
mind  to  be  more  decisively  unlike.  The  reader  of  their  works 
— not  to  speak  of  the  student  of  Rossetti's  paintings— will 
not  fail  to  perceive  this.  Rossetti  was  not  at  all  a  mere 
recluse,  incapable  of  taking  very  good  care  of  himself  in  the 
current  transactions  of  life  ;  he  had,  on  the  contrary,  a  large 

1  The  article,  a  very  brief  one,  is  named  The  House  of  Dante  Gabriel 
Rossetti,  with  a  woodcut  of  the  house.  It  appeared  in  some  magazine,  but 
I  forget  which.     The  date  was  some  little  while  after  my  brother's  death. 


SETTLING   IN    CHEYNE   WALK.  235 

share  of  shrewdness  and  of  business  aptitude,  and  a  quick  eye 
for  "  the  main  chance  "  in  all  contingencies  where  he  chose  to 
exercise  it.  He  understood  character,  and  (though  often  too 
indulgent  to  its  shadier  side)  he  knew  how  to  deal  with  it, 
and  had  indeed  a  rather  marked  distaste  for  that  inexpert 
class  of  persons  who  waver  on  the  edge  of  life  without  ever 
throwing  themselves  boldly  into  it,  and  gripping  at  the  facts. 
But  Mr.  Meredith  was  (or  I  should  rather  say,  is)  incom- 
parably more  a  man  of  the  world  and  man  of  society,  scrutini- 
zing all  sorts  of  things,  and  using  them  as  his  material  in  the 
commerce  of  life  and  in  the  field  of  intellect.  Even  in  the 
mere  matter  of  household -routine,  he  found  that  Rossetti's 
arrangements,  though  ample  for  comfort  of  a  more  or  less 
off-hand  kind,  were  not  conformable  to  his  standard.  Thus  it 
pretty  soon  became  apparent  that  Mr.  Meredith's  sub-tenancy 
was  not  likely  to  stand  much  wear  and  tear,  or  to  outlast  the 
temporary  convenience  which  had  prompted  it.  I  could  not 
now  define  precisely  how  long  it  continued — perhaps  up  to 
the  earlier  days  of  1864.  It  then  ceased,  without,  I  think,  any 
disposition  on  either  side  that  it  should  be  renewed.  Friendly 
intercourse  between  the  two  men  continued  for  some  few 
years,  and  gradually  wore  out  without  any  cause  or  feeling 
of  dissension.  In  Mr.  Joseph  Knight's  pleasant  Life  of  Dante 
Gabriel  Rossetti  I  find  some  observations  made  by  "  a  friend, 
himself  a  poet,"  which  I  unhesitatingly  (let  me  hope  not 
rashly)  attribute  to  our  pre-eminent  novelist.  I  quote  them 
here  less  as  throwing  light  on  the  character  of  Rossetti — 
highly  deserving  though  they  are  of  attention  in  that  regard 
— than  as  pointing  to  the  sort  of  relation  which  subsisted 
between  the  two  during  their  joint  sojourn  in  Cheyne 
Walk:— 

"  I  liked  him  much,  though  I  was  often  irritated  by  his  preju- 
dices, and  his  strong  language  against  this  or  that  person  or  subject. 
He  was  borne  too,  somewhat,  in  his  interests,  both  on  canvas  and  in 
verse,  and  would  not  care  for  certain  forms  of  literature  and  life 
which  he  admitted  were  worth  caring  for.  However,  his  talk  was 
always  full  of  interest  and  of  rare  knowledge;  and  he  himself,  his 


236  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

pictures,  and  his  house,  altogether,  had  I  think  an  immense  influence 
for  good  on  us  all,  and  on  English  art  and  work — being  not  insular 
yet  not  un-English,  and  bringing  into  our  world  new  and  delightful 
subjects,  and  a  personal  character  very  striking  and  unusual  and 
loveable." 

Mr.  Swinburne  remained  in  Tudor  House  for  some  con- 
siderable while  after  Mr.  Meredith  had  left.  He  composed 
there  the  stupendous  drama  of  Atalanta  in  Calydon,  and 
wrote  or  finished  Chastelard,  and  much  of  the  Poems  and 
Ballads  (first  series),  and  of  William  Blake,  a  Critical  Essay. 
I  hardly  remember  whether  he  was  still  in  the  house  when 
the  Poems  and  Ballads  were  published,  1866,  and  (amid  the 
leers  and  the  yells  of  British  respectability)  immediately 
withdrawn.  If  not  then  resident  in  the  house,  he  was  con- 
tinually looking  in  there,  and  (I  need  not  say)  was  received 
with  all  the  welcome  of  long-standing  friendship,  and  of 
admiration  for  astonishing  genius  and  attainment.  Ultimately 
it  suited  both  himself  and  Rossetti  that  his  quarters  should 
be  fixed  elsewhere.  One  element  in  the  case  was  that  the 
painter's  professional  income  continued  to  augment  from  year 
to  year,  and  he  no  longer  found  any  advantage  in  getting 
friends  to  share  the  expense  of  the  house. 

In  the  summer  of  1862  both  Ruskin  and  Burne-Jones 
were  abroad  in  Italy.  Ruskin  was  out  of  health  and  out 
of  spirits  owing  to  vexations  with  his  studies  in  Political 
Economy.     In  July  he  wrote  to  my  brother  from  Milan  : — 

"  I  do  trust  that  henceforward  I  may  be  more  with  you,  as  I  am 
able  now  better  to  feel  your  great  powers  of  mind,  and  am  myself 
more  in  need  of  the  kindness  with  which  they  are  joined.  I've 
been  thinking  of  asking  if  I  could  rent  a  room  in  your  Chelsea 
house." 

I  cannot  say  what  answer  my  brother  returned  to  this 
friendly,  and  in  some  respects  attractive,  proposal.  Clearly 
the  house  was  sufficiently  full  as  it  was  ;  and,  so  far  as  I 
recollect,  no  more  was  heard  of  Mr.  Riiskin  as  a  possible 
inmate. 


SETTLING   IJN   CHEYNE  WALK.  Itf 

Mr.  Jones  wrote  to  Rossetti  from  Venice  : — 

"  The  other  day  I  saw  a  letter  of  Titian's.  The  handwriting  was, 
absolutely,  exactly  like  yours,  as  like  as  a  forged  letter  of  yours  could 
be ;  the  whole  writing  a  little  bit  bigger,  I  think,  but  the  shapes  of 
the  letters  as  exact  as  could  be."  x 

In  a  letter  written  by  my  brother  soon  before  he  left 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  for  Cheyne  Walk,  21  August,  I  find 
the  first  mention  of  a  painter  with  whom  he  soon  became 
very  familiar,  Mr.  Whistler.  For  several  years  ensuing  they 
were  on  terms  which,  partaking  of  real  friendliness,  were 
more  especially  of  great  good-fellowship.  This  must  have 
continued  till  1872,  when  there  was  a  wide  gap  in  Rossetti's 
London  associations.  After  that  date  the  two  saw  little — 
and  at  last  nothing — of  one  another.  Through  Mr.  Whistler, 
Rossetti  after  a  while  came  to  know  the  distinguished  painter 
from  Dijon,  Alphonse  Legros,  who  later  on  held  the  office  of 
Slade-Professor  in  the  London  University  for  some  years. 
This  also  was  an  intimate  connexion,  but  terminated  earlier 
than  that  with  Whistler  himself.  Another  letter  belonging 
to  1862  shows  that  my  brother  was  then  about  to  engage  a 
professional  assistant,  Mr.  W.  J.  Knewstub,  who  housed  with 
him  for  a  year  or  two,  preparing  duplicates  of  pictures,  and 
aiding  him  in  various  ways.  Mr.  Knewstub's  chief  tendency 
at  this  time — not  of  direct  service  to  Rossetti — was  as  a 
sketcher  of  comic  or  humorous  subjects,  for  which  he  had  a 
ready  gift ;  later  on,  as  a  painter  chiefly  in  water-colours,  he 
developed  marked  colourist  talent.  He  and  Rossetti  were 
always  on  pleasant  terms  together. 

A  painter  who  seeks  the  help  of  an  assistant  must  be 
supposed  to  be  in  good  employ.  Such  was  already  the  case 
with  Rossetti,  as  soon  as  he  began  to  settle  down  after  his 

1  If  Sir  E.  Burne-Jones  formed  a  correct  opinion  as  to  this  letter  from 
Titian,  the  handwriting  of  it  must  have  differed  entirely  from  that  of 
another  letter  by  the  great  painter  which  I  saw  in  the  Venetian  Exhibition 
in  London  in  1895.  In  this  last-named  letter  the  writing  is  singularly  pre- 
cise and  sharp,  presenting  no  zoxt  of  resemblance  to  Rossetti's. 


238  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

wife's  death.  He  produced  a  good  deal,  and  whatever  he 
produced,  if  not  previously  bespoken,  was  soon  sold.  It  is 
true  he  still  was  not  always  in  command  of  ready  money 
when  this  was  in  requisition,  and  he  continued  at  times  to 
have  recourse  to  a  convenient  pawnbroker,  or  an  accommo- 
dating relative  or  intimate.  But  he  was  prospering,  and 
he  prospered  more  and  more,  and  might  soon  be  regarded 
as  one  of  those  (not  too  numerous)  painters  who  make  a 
steady  and  very  sufficient  income.  What  he  received  he 
liked  to  spend.  Money  never  clung  to  his  fingers,  nor  rested 
in  his  pocket,  and  he  never  either  accumulated  or  invested. 
A  letter  of  his,  dated  in  June  1867,  shows  that  even  then 
he  had  no  banking  account,  which  seems  surprising  enough. 
How  soon  afterwards  he  began  one  I  am  not  sure,  but  it 
was  well  before  1872.  Had  the  will  been  there,  the  power 
of  adding  money  to  money  would  easily  have  come.  It 
should  in  justice  be  added  that,  if  he  was  indulgent  to 
himself,  he  was  also  liberal  and  even  generous  to  others. 


XXVII. 

WORK  FROM  1862    TO  1868. 

I  HAVE  lumped  together  here  no  less  than  seven  years,  when 
my  brother's  powers — though  somewhat  less  developed  than 
they  afterwards  became  in  the  direction  of  abstract  style — 
■  were  truly  at  their  best.  The  dates  extend  from  the  beginning 
of  his  widowerhood  to  the  time  when,  from  various  causes,  a 
rather  serious  decline  in  his  health  set  in.  I  shall  name  the 
several  works  (and  there  were  of  course  many  others)  under 
the  headings  of  Oil-pictures,  Water-colours,  and  Designs,  each 
class  in  order  of  date,  and  shall  append  a  few  details,  such 
as  my  plan  admits  of. 

Oil-pictures. — Joan  of  Arc  (kissing  the  sword  of  deliverance)  ; 
Helen  of  Troy;  Beata  Beatrix;  Aurelia  (called  also  Fazio's 
Mistress,  but  this  title  was  finally  rejected  by  Rossetti  as 
inapposite)  ;   The  Beloved,   or   The  Bride  (from  the  Song  of 


WORK   FROM    1862   TO    1 868.  239 

Solomon) ;  The  Boat  of  Love  (monochrome — from  a  sonnet 
in  the  Vita  Nuovd) ;  Lilith ;  Venus  Verticordia ;  The  Blue 
Bower ;  7/  Ramoscello  (or  Bellebuond) ;  Portrait  of  his  Mother ; 
The  Loving-cup  ;  Sibylla  Palmifera  ;  Manna  Vanna  (called 
also  Belcolore)  ;  Mrs.  William  Morris  ;  La  Pia  (from  Dante's 
Purgatorid). 

Water-colours. — Paolo  and  Fraucesca,  triptych  (the  best 
version  of  this  subject,  belonging  to  Mr.  Leathart) ;  Heart  of 
the  Night  (or  Mariana  in  the  Moated  Grange) ;  Monna  Pomona  ; 
The  First  Madness  of  Ophelia  ;  Socrates  taught  to  dance  by 
Aspasia  ;  Washing  Hands  ;  The  Return  of  Tibullus  to  Delia  ; 
Tristram  and  Yseult  drinking  the  Love-potion  ;  La  Bionda  del 
Balcone ;  Rosa  Triplex. 

Designs. — Designs    for    Christina     Rossetti's     poem,    The 
Prince  s   Progress ;    Portrait  of  Christina   (head    poised   on , 
hands) ;  Michael  Scott's  Wooing ;  Aspecta  Medusa  ;  Head  of 
Madox  Brown  ;  Aurea   Catena  (has    sometimes    been   incor- 
rectly named  La  Pia)  ;  Orpheus  and  Eurydice. 

Nothing  that  my  brother  produced  was,  to  my  mind,  more 
thoroughly  satisfactory  than  the  [o an  of  Arc — the  oil-picture 
which  was  sold  to  Mr.  Anderson  Rose,  and  by  him  re-sold 
not  many  years  afterwards.  It  is  somewhat  singular  that 
this  head  was  painted  from  a  German  (not  a  French)  woman — 
named,  if  I  remember  right,  Mrs.  Beyer.  She  had  one  of  the 
most  classically  correct  and  strongest  profiles  that  one  could 
see  anywhere.  Something  of  the  same  kind  might  be  said  of 
the  English  original  of  Helen  of  Troy — a  face  less  heroically 
but  not  less  exactly  moulded.  Beata  Beatrix — a  reminiscence 
of  the  painter's  lost  wife,  pourtrayed  with  perfect  fidelity  out 
of  the  inner  chambers  of  his  soul — is  now  in  the  National 
Gallery,  the  gift  of  Lady  Mount-Temple.  It  was  less  well  re- 
peated on  commission  more  than  once,  but  always  reluctantly. 
Though  I  have  called  this  a  "  reminiscence  "  of  his  wife,  it  is  I 
believe  a  fact  that  some  preparation  for  the  picture  had  been 
made  during  her  lifetime,  perhaps  as  far  back  as  1856.  Aurelia, 
a  small  half-figure  of  a  lady  at  her  toilet,  is  one  of  the  most 
finished  specimens  of  Rossetti's  execution.     The  Beloved  is 


540  t)ANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTf. 

by  many  persons  accounted  his  very  best  work.  I  would  not 
call  it  the  best  in  the  sense  of  being  better  than  any  other ; 
but,  in  balanced  brilliancy  of  colour,  sweetness  and  variety 
of  facial  type,  and  first  salient  and  not  the  less  permanent 
impression  of  manifest  and  triumphant  beauty,  it  certainly 
yields  to  none.  Monna  Vanna  (belonging  to  the  same 
purchaser,  Mr.  George  Rae)  has  also  and  deservedly  been 
a  great  general  favourite.  The  Boat  of  Love,  now  in  the 
Birmingham  Art-Gallery,  was  a  preparation  for  a  full-coloured 
picture,  never  executed,  owing  partly  to  fast-and-loose  pro- 
ceedings on  the  part  of  an  intending  purchaser  in  these  same 
years.  The  Blue  Bower,  a  female  half-figure  done  with  more 
than  wonted  rapidity,  is  perhaps  the  most  forcible  piece  of 
colour  and  handling  that  Rossetti  ever  produced  (or  may 
share  that  praise  with  La  Bella  Mano),  as  the  Ramoscello  is 
in  all  respects  one  of  the  most  delicate.  The  Portrait  of 
Mrs.  Morris,  in  a  gown  of  sumptuous  blue,  rivals  The  Blue 
Bower  for  vigour,  and  far  exceeds  it  in  tone  of  feeling.  Lilith 
and  Sibylla  Pahnifera  are  both  works  of  thought  as  well  as 
matured  skill,  and  stand  recorded  in  the  painter's  sonnets  as 
Body's  Beauty  and  Soul's  Beauty.  L.a  Pia  was  only  begun 
in  1868.  It  was  then  set  aside  for  several  years,  and  not 
completed  until  1881. 

Among  the  water-colours  I  may  specify  as  exceptionally 
successful  the  Paolo  and  Francesca ;  the  Heart  of  the  Night, 
which  is  the  same  design  as  in  the  Tennyson  woodcut ;  and 
the  Tristram  and  Yseult.  The  Return  of  Tibullus  to  Delia 
is  also  one  of  Rossetti's  best  considered  and  most  energetic 
designs.  Washing  Hands — a  lady,  with  her  lover  no  longer 
favoured — is  noticeable  as  being  one  of  the  very  few  subjects 
which  he  treated  in  the  costume  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
The  Dr.  Johnson  group  seems  to  be  the  only  other  such 
coloured  work  that  is  known  to  me.  Equally  out  of  his 
ordinary  line  is  Socrates  taught  to  dance  by  Aspasia.  I  recall 
very  well  a  sketch  made  of  this  subject,  and  a  very  sprightly 
one  it  was,  but  I  doubt  whether  I  ever  saw  the  water-colour. 

The  design  of  Michael  Scott's   Wooing  was  frequently  in 


WORK   FROM    1862   TO    1 868.  24I 

Rossetti's  head,  and  every  now  and  then  tried  by  his  hand 
in  different  compositions.  Aspecta  Medusa  (Perseus  allowing 
Andromeda  to  contemplate,  reflected  in  a  tank,  the  severed 
head  of  Medusa)  was  also  designed  more  than  once.  But  the 
courage  of  the  proposing  purchaser  failed  him — he  thought 
the  subject  too  "  horrid  " — and  this  again  swelled  the  over- 
long  list  of  paintings  which  my  brother  did  not  do. 

In  Section  XX.,  speaking  of  Mrs.  William  Morris,  I 
have  referred  to  the  equally  frequent  and  erroneous  assertion 
that  this  lady  constituted  Rossetti's  one  sole  type  of  facial 
beauty.  This  allegation  is  not  only  absurdly  incorrect,  but 
it  amounts  to  a  depreciation  of  his  art.  It  implies  that  he  was 
far  more  monotonous  than  he  really  was,  and  also  that  he  had 
little  or  no  discrimination  as  to  the  type  which  would  be  the 
most  suitable  according  to  diversity  of  subject  and  treatment. 
I  have  elsewhere1  said  something  on  that  ill-understood  or 
ill-reported  matter  ;  and  I  will  now,  without  re-producing  my 
previous  words,  enter  rather  more  at  large  upon  the  same 
topic.  This  furnishes,  besides  the  direct  object,  an  oppor- 
tunity of  saying  something  collectively  about  various  persons 
who  ought  not  to  pass  unmentioned.  I  shall  confine  myself 
chiefly,  yet  not  rigidly,  to  oil-pictures. 

Rossetti  began  painting  in  1848  ;  and  it  is  of  course  impos- 
sible that  in  the  early  years  of  his  practice  he  should  ever 
have  painted  from  Mrs.  Morris,  whom  he  did  not  see  until 
late  in  1857.  We  have  noticed  before  that  his  sister  Christina 
sat  for  Mary  in  The  GirlJiood  of  Mary  Virgin,  and  in  Ecce 
Ancilla  Domini ;  his  wife  for  Beatrice  in  a  number  of  instances, 
and  for  Princess  Sabra — and  for  very  many  other  figures  as 
well ;  Mrs.  Hannay  for  Beatrice  in  the  water-colour  of  Danle's 
Dream  ;  Mrs.  Beyer  for  Joan  of  Arc;  Mrs.  H.  for  Bocca 
Baciata.  The  latter  also  sat  for  the  woman  in  Found, 
Aurelia,  The  Blue  Bower,  and  The  Loving  Cup,  and  in  the 
first  instance  for  Lilith  ;  but  another  head — that  of  Miss  Alexa 
Wilding,  soon  to   be   mentioned — was,  after  an    interval   of 

1  In  the  Art-Journal  lox  June  1884 — Article,  Notes  on  Rossetti  and  his 
Works. 

VOL.   I.  16 


242  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

years,  substituted  in  Lilith,  and,  to  my  thinking,  very  dis- 
advantageous^ so. 

I  proceed  to  other  sitters  not  as  yet  mentioned.  For  The 
Magdalene  at  the  Door  of  Simon  the  Pharisee,  and  for  Helen 
of  Troy,  an  Englishwoman  sat,  remarkable  for  beauty,  but 
not  for  depth  of  expression.  Her  head  appears  also  in  the 
water-colour,  just  mentioned,  of  Dante's  Dream.  In  The 
Beloved  the  chief  head  is  from  a  young  woman  who  was  in 
much  request  at  that  time  among  various  artists.  She  had 
a  Scotch  name,  I  think  Mackenzie.  This  is  one  of  the  very 
few  instances  in  which  my  brother  painted  an  important  head 
from  a  professional  model,  and,  as  an  exceptional  case,  the 
experiment  was  conspicuously  successful.  The  dark  woman 
to  the  spectator's  right  is  a  pure-blooded  gipsy,  named 
Keomi,  who  became  known  to  my  brother  through  Mr. 
Sandys.  To  the  left  is  a  pretty  face,  of  an  espiegle  rather  than 
an  exalted  order — Ellen  Smith,  whom  Rossetti  pourtrayed 
several  times,  beginning  not  long  after  he  first  knew  Mr. 
Boyce.  With  Sibylla  Palmifera  we  come  to  Miss  Alexa 
Wilding,  a  damsel  of  respectable  parentage  whom  he  saw 
casually  in  the  street,  in  April  1865,  and  whom  he  at  once 
determined  to  paint  from,  were  it  at  all  possible — which  it 
proved  to  be.  Having  thus  found  a  head  of  fine  and  rather 
peculiar  mould,  eminently  strong  in  contour  and  also  capable 
of  much  varying  expression,  which  he  regarded  as  almost  a 
sine  qua  non,  Rossetti  resolved  to  secure  Miss  Wilding  to  his 
own  canvases,  and  with  this  object  he  paid  her  a  regular 
annual  salary,  which  went  on  for  a  long  time.  He  was  more 
than  commonly  indisposed,  and  many  artists  are  to  some 
extent  the  same,  to  share  his  discovery  with  any  others,  even 
of  his  intimates.  Her  face  re-appears  in  Regina  Cordium  (ot 
which  I  have  seen  an  unsuccessful  woodcut — the  same  title 
was  bestowed  upon  two  or  three  other  pictures  from  different 
sitters),  in  Monna  Vanna,  Rosa  Triplex,  the  oil-painting  of 
Dante's  Dream  (the  lady  at  the  foot  of  the  bed),  Veronica 
Veronese,  The  Blessed  Damozel,  La  Ghirlandata,  The  Roman 
Widow,  La  Bella  Mano,  and  The  Sea-spell.     The  last  six  of 


WORK   FROM    1862  TO    1 868.  243 


these  works  were  executed  at  a  date  beyond  the  latest,  1! 
which  is  properly  covered  by  my  present  section  ;  but,  for 
our  immediate  purpose,  that  cannot  be  helped.  It  will  be 
observed  that  Rossetti  did  not  see  Miss  Wilding  until  several 
years  after  he  had  known  Mrs.  Morris  ;  and  this  large 
number  of  paintings  from  the  former — not  to  speak  of  a 
number  of  minor  productions  with  or  without  colour — is  of 
itself  enough  to  show  that  he  was  far  from  confining  his 
pictorial  study  to  the  wife  of  the  poet  of  The  Earthly  Para- 
dise. Venus  Verticordia  was  painted  from  yet  another  person 
— a  remarkably  handsome  cook  whom  he  met  in  the  street ; 
Monna  Pomona  from  a  Scotch  girl,  Jessie — a  damsel  of  no 
rigid  virtue  who  had  a  most  energetic  as  well  as  beautiful  pro- 
file, not  without  some  analogy  to  that  of  the  great  Napoleon. 
//  Ramoscello  is  a  portrait  of  a  daughter  of  one  of  his  best 
purchasers  and  friends,  Mr.  William  Graham,  M.P.  for  Glas- 
gow. Mrs.  Stillman — a  celebrated  beauty,  and  the  most 
cordial,  accomplished,  and  amiable  of  ladies,  herself  a  very 
elegant  painter,  daughter  of  Mr.  Spartali,  Consul-General  for 
Greece — appears  in  the  figure  at  the  bed's  head  in  the  oil- 
painting  of  Dante  s  Dream,  and  in  the  Vision  of  Fiammetta. 
I  seem  to  see  also,  in  The  Roman  Widow,  almost  as  much  of 
her  head  as  of  Miss  Wilding's.  Mrs.  Stillman  had  a  rather 
younger  sister,  Christine  (who  became  the  Countess  Edmond  dc 
Cahen).  She  also  was  a  beauty,  but  in  a  way  less  sympathetic 
to  Rossetti,  who  did  not,  I  think,  ever  draw  from  her.  The 
sisters  became  known  to  him  through  Brown,  who  super- 
intended the  artistic  studies  of  the  elder  Miss  Spartali.  Mrs. 
Sumner,  a  daughter-in-law  of  a  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
was  the  original  of  the  oil-painting  (left  unfinished)  of 
Domizia  Scaligera,  and  of  some  other  heads  produced 
towards  1876.  The  ideal  women  of  Rossetti  were,  as  a  rule, 
always  tall  and  stately  persons,  and  with  Mrs.  Sumner  this 
was  especially  the  case.  The  pleasant  simple  picture  called 
Fleurs  de  Marie  was  done  from  the  niece  of  the  gardener  at 
Kelmscott  Manor-house — a  dwelling  to  be  mentioned  in  the 
sequel. 


244  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

I  have  here  specified  no  fewer  than  seventeen  female  sitters 
from  whom  important  heads  were  painted,  some  of  them 
known  before  Mrs.  Morris,  and  some  afterwards.  One  of 
them,  Miss  Wilding,  seems  to  have  sat  at  least  as  often  as 
Mrs.  Morris  for  coloured,  and  barely  less  often  for  uncoloured, 
works.  To  read  this  account  of  the  facts,  and  to  persist 
afterwards  in  saying  that  Rossetti  had  only  one  model  and 
one  ideal,  would  be  a  case  of  wilful  uncandour.  In  affirming 
this,  I  do  not  wish  at  all  to  derogate  from  the  widespread 
belief  that,  in  the  extraordinarily  impressive — the  profound 
and  abstract — type  of  beauty  of  Mrs.  Morris,  he  found  an 
ideal  more  entirely  responsive  than  any  other  to  his  aspira- 
tion in  art.  It  seemed  a  face  created  to  fire  his  imagination, 
and  to  quicken  his  powers — a  face  of  arcane  and  inexhaustible 
meaning.  To  realize  its  features  was  difficult ;  to  transcend 
its  suggestion,  impossible.  There  was  one  fortunate  circum- 
stance— if  you  could  but  represent  its  appearance,  you  stood 
thereby  already  high  in  the  region  of  the  typical  or  symbolic. 
For  idealizing  there  was  but  one  process — to  realize.  I  will 
not  conceal  my  opinion  that  my  brother  succeeded  where  few 
painters  would  have  done  other  than  fail  ;  he  did  some 
genuine  justice  to  this  astonishing  countenance. 

As  we  have  seen,  Miss  Burden — -before  she  became  Mrs. 
Morris — obliged  Rossetti  by  sitting  for  several  heads  while 
he  was  working  in  Oxford  in  and  about  1857.  In  her  earlier 
married  days  she  sat  also  for  the  Madonna  in  the  Llandaff 
Triptych,  and  for  one  or  two  heads  of  Beatrice.  At  the 
beginning  of  1862  Rossetti  was  bereft  for  ever  of  another 
exquisite  type  of  beauty — the  pure  loveliness  and  self-with- 
drawn suavity  of  his  wife's  face,  as  little  matchable,  in  its 
very  different  way,  as  that  of  Mrs.  Morris.  Still  an  interval 
of  years  ensued  ;  and  (so  far  as  I  trace)  it  was  only  in  1868 
that  Mrs.  Morris  re-commenced  to  favour  him  with  sittings. 
To  this  year  appertain  the  oil  portrait  of  her,  and  La  Pia, 
and  the  crayon  heads  named  Aurea  Catena  and  Reverie. 
Numerous  other  examples  followed.  Some  of  the  crayon 
heads  or  half-figures  are  unsurpassed  amid   Rossetti's  work, 


WORK   FROM    1862   TO    1 868.  245 

both  as  consummate  likenesses,  and  as  achievements  in  art  ; 
but  I  will  only  name  the  oil- pictures — Pandora,  Mariana 
(with  the  Page  singing),  Dante  s  Dream  (the  head  of  Beatrice), 
Proserpine,  Water-willow  (which  is  practically  a  portrait), 
Venus  Astarte,  Mnemosyne  (which  was  originally  intended  for 
Hero,  with  her  signal-lamp  for  Leander),  La  Donna  della 
Finestra,  The  Daydream,  and  The  Salutation  of  Beatrice  (left 
rather  less  than  completed  at  my  brother's  death). 

It  is  apparent  that  Rossetti — although,  as  previously 
demonstrated,  he  did  not  by  any  means  confine  himself  to 
the  head  of  Mrs.  Morris  as  his  type — found  this  countenance 
available  for  subjects  of  very  diverse  kinds.  And  so  indeed  it 
is.  For  a  Pia,  Pandora,  Mariana,  Proserpine,  Venus  Astarte,  or 
Mnemosyne,  there  was  hardly  such  another  head  to  be  found 
in  England.  For  a  Madonna,  a  Beatrice,  a  Daydream,  or  a 
Donna  della  Finestra  (from  the  Vita  Nuova — the  same  per- 
sonage as  "  The  Lady  of  Pity,"  so  designated  in  some  other 
works  by  Rossetti),  a  different  head  might  have  been  equally 
appropriate  in  essence,  and,  to  some  eyes  and  from  some 
points  of  view,  even  more  appropriate  :  but,  as  apprehended  and 
treated  by  Rossetti,  both  the  mould  of  face  and  the  expres- 
sion educed  from  it  seem  to  be  "  in  choral  consonancy  "  with 
the  personages,  and  to  leave  nothing  at  which  a  reasonable 
mind  can  cavil.  The  works  are  there  to  tell  their  own  tale. 
Any  one  who  dissents  from  my  view  will  abide  undis- 
turbed in  his  own.  Of  course  I  am  not  here  speaking  of  any 
executive  merit  or  demerit  in  the  pictures,  but  only  of  the 
selection  and  application  of  the  type. 

As  to  male  sitters — professional  hired  models — Rossetti 
considered  that  those  of  Italian  nationality  were,  as  a  rule, 
preferable  to  all  others.  He  used  an  expression  to  Christina 
which  I  have  often  heard  her  quote  with  a  laugh  :  "  An 
Italian  comes  to  your  studio,  and  he  looks  to  you  very  like  a 
Guy  Fawkes  ;  but,  when  you  set  about  drawing  him,  you  find 
that  he  is  much  more  like  the  Antinous." 

These  considerations  about  sitters  for  my  brother's  works 
have  led  me  a  long  way  beyond  our  present  limit  of  date, 


246  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

and  indeed  on  to  the  very  end  of  his  life.  I  must  now  recur 
to  matters  proper  to  the  years  1 862-68. 

For  Dante  Rossetti  to  figure  as  the  correspondent  of  any 
newspaper  was  a  rare  thing.  An  occasion  did  however  arise 
on  15  October  1865,  when  he  wrote  to  the  Athenaeum  to 
correct  a  misapprehension  into  which  that  paper  had  fallen, 
as  to  his  being  practically  a  water-colour  painter  who  only 
at  times  worked  in  oils.  He  considered  it  to  be  "  of  great 
professional  importance  to  him "  that  the  point  should  be 
rightly  understood  ;  and  explained  that,  having  originally 
appeared  as  an  oil-painter,  and  never  having  abandoned  that 
medium  although  he  had  sometimes  worked  in  water-colour, 
he  had  "  now,  for  a  good  many  years  past,"  reverted  to  oil 
for  "  all  his  chief  works." 

Another  matter  of  technical  practice  is  brought  out  in  an 
interesting  way  in  a  paper  which  my  brother's  intimate  friend 
Mr.  Frederick  J.  Shields,  the  distinguished  painter,  contributed 
to  The  Century-Guild  Hobby-Horse  (No.  18).  Mr.  Shields 
may  have  been  known  to  Rossetti  before  1864,  but  I  cannot 
fix  the  precise  year.  My  brother  always  valued  much  the 
works  of  this  artist,  and  held  him  in  the  highest  esteem  as  a 
devout-natured  man  of  the  strictest  principle  and  the  warmest 
feeling ;  the  bond  between  the  two  friends  being  singularly 
close  in  the  last  four  or  five  years  of  my  brother's  life,  when 
Shields  became  his  frequent  and  unflagging  visitor,  sparing 
no  effort  to  keep  him  in  heart  and  hope.  Mr.  Shields,  it 
seems,  had  towards  1864  lit  upon  a  certain  French  "com- 
pressed charcoal,"  which  he  approved,  and  showed  to 
Rossetti.  The  latter  at  once  adopted  this  material  alone  for  all 
his  larger  studies,  which  were  altogether  very  numerous,  and 
as  high  in  quality  as  anything  he  produced,  and  many  of  them 
done  in  varying  tints.  When  the  Franco-German  war  broke 
out  in  1870 — "this  truly  atrocious  and  insufferable  war,"  as 
Rossetti  called  it  in  writing  to  Shields — that  chalk  became 
unprocurable,  and  it  has  never  again  been  in  the  market. 
Fortunately  Rossetti  had  previously  laid-in  a  large  stock  of  it, 
which  he  continued  using,  and  even  at  his  death  it  was  not 


WORK   FROM    l862   TO    1 868.  247 

nearly  exhausted.  Mr.  Shields  describes  with  some  minute- 
ness the  method  adopted  by  Rossetti  in  the  execution  of  his 
crayon-drawings — crayon-pictures  several  of  them  might 
deservedly  be  called ;  and  he  remarks  that  these  works  can 
easily  be  marred  if  taken  out  of  their  protecting  glass.  Mr. 
Shields's  particulars  are  well  worthy  of  the  attention  of 
artists  ;  and,  were  my  Memoir  more  closely  concerned  with 
details  of  technique,  they  should  here  be  summarized. 

In  these  years,  lasting  up  to  1868,  the  circle  of  the 
purchasers  of  Rossetti's  works  got  pretty  nearly  completed. 
Ruskin  was  no  longer  among  them,  nor  yet  Boyce  ;  Anderson 
Rose  ceased  for  the  time  to  be  in  a  position  to  continue ; 
McCracken  and  Plint,  both  of  them  for  a  while  mainstays  of 
my  brother's  fortunes,  were  dead.  I  have  heretofore  had 
occasion  to  mention  Mr.  Leathart  of  Newcastle  (afterwards 
of  Gateshead),  Mr.  Rae  of  Birkenhead,  and  Mr.  Graham  of 
Glasgow  and  London.  These  three  were  kind  and  pleasant 
friends,  as  well  as  steady  liberal  purchasers.  They  all  proved 
to  be  discerning  judges  of  works  of  art,  and  my  brother  could 
safely  commit  to  their  hands  anything  that  he  produced — 
satisfied  that,  if  he  himself  had  ground  to  be  fairly  content 
with  it,  their  sympathy  would  rival  or  even  exceed  his  own. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  Mr.  Frederick  R.  Leyland,  a  wealthy 
ship-owner  of  Liverpool,  and  of  Mr.  L.  R.  Valpy,  a  London 
solicitor,  both  of  whom  seem  to  have  begun  commissioning 
towards  the  middle  of  1867.  Mr.  Graham  came  later — about 
the  close  of  1868.  There  were  also  Mr.  Mitchell  of  Bradford, 
who  bought  the  Venus  Verticordia ;  Mr.  Craven  of 
Manchester,  who  bought  the  Tibullus  and  Delia,  and  a  large 
number  of  other  works  ;  Lord  Mount-Temple,  owner  of  the 
Beata  Beatrix ;  Colonel  Gillum,  for  water-colours  and  drawings ; 
Mr.  Trist,  a  wine-merchant  at  Brighton  ;  Mr.  Gambart,  the 
great  picture-dealer,  who,  after  surmounting  some  tiffs  over 
the  affairs  of  the  Plint  estate,  took  several  of  Rossetti's  works  ; 
and  some  others  as  well,  whom  I  do  not  stay  to  particularize. 
In  course  of  time  the  principal  collections  of  Rossetti's  art 
came  to  be  those  of  Leyland,  Graham,  and  Rae.     The  former 


248  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

two  have  now  been  dispersed.  With  the  exception  of  Mr. 
Rae  and  Mr.  Leathart,  I  am  not  certain  that  there  is  now  any- 
single  person  owning  a  large  number  of  the  paintings.  In  the 
way  of  studies  and  sketches  Mr.  Charles  Fairfax  Murray,  of 
London  and  Florence,  is  well  provided. 

My  brother  had  not  been  long  settled  in  Cheyne  Walk 
before  he  began  to  find  that  his  studio  was  below  the  range 
of  his  requirements.  As  a  room  it  was  commodious  and 
ample,  but  it  was  not  properly  a  studio.  He  cast  about  for 
various  expedients,  consulting  his  friend  the  architect  Mr. 
Philip  Webb.  At  one  time  an  iron  studio  in  the  large  garden 
was  thought  of;  at  another,  a  more  solid  structure  in  the 
same  space  ;  at  another,  the  resumption  of  a  biggish  set  of 
cab-stables  which  formed  part  of  the  property,  and  their 
conversion  into  a  studio.  Finally  all  these  more  speculative 
projects  were  given  up,  and  my  brother  was  contented  to 
carry  out  a  fair  amount  of  alteration  in  the  lighting  etc.  of 
his  existing  studio-apartment.  This  was  in  187 1.  It  served 
his  turn  reasonably  well,  though  never  quite  satisfactory ; 
and,  in  spite  of  occasional  schemes  of  a  total  change  of 
residence,  he  went  on  upon  this  plan  up  to  the  close  of  his 
life. 

Rossetti's  art-assistant,  Mr.  Knewstub,  left  him  after  a 
while,  to  try  his  own  independent  fortunes  as  a  painter  ;  and 
Mr.  Henry  Treffry  Dunn  (who  became  known  to  my  brother 
through  Mr.  Charles  Augustus  Howell,  to  be  hereafter  named) 
was  engaged  in  his  stead.  Mr.  Dunn  had1  a  good  deal  of 
artistic  experience  and  aptitude,  and  proved  to  be  of  no 
small  service  to  Rossetti,  both  in  matters  of  art,  and  also, 
as  he  was  a  steady-going  man  of  business,  in  the  general 
management  of  the  house.  He  ceased  to  be  an  inmate  in 
1 88 1,  but  remained  in  communication  with  my  brother. 

The  money-affairs  of  Rossetti,  having   once  become  pro- 

1  I  speak  of  Mr.  Dunn  in  the  past  tense,  but  not  as  implying  that  he  is 
no  longer  alive.  I  believe  him  to  be  alive ;  but  regret  to  say  that,  from 
the  year  1884  or  thereabouts,  I  have  not  seen  and  have  seldom  heard 
of  him. 


Work  from  1862  to  1868.  249 

sperous,  continued  to  be  so  increasingly  for  many  years  ;  and 
indeed,  notwithstanding  some  interruptions  from  ill-health  or 
the  fluctuations  of  the  picture-market,  they  never  declined 
seriously  up  to  the  last.  He  earned  what  may  be  called  a 
large  income.  From  notes  made  at  the  time  I  find  that  in 
1865  he  realized  about  £2,050  ;  in  1866,  upwards  of  £1,080  ; 
in  1867,  little  or  not  at  all  less  than  £3,000.  At  this  last 
date  he  still  owed  about  £1,000  in  one  quarter  or  another. 
In  one  of  the  Family-letters,  29  April  1876,  it  will  be  seen 
that  he  had  made  £3,725  in  the  preceding  twelvemonth,  and 
that  he  regarded  this  as  about  his  then  average.  I  surmise, 
however,  that  it  was  seldom  if  ever  reached  again.  For  a 
non-exhibiting  painter,  selling  his  works  in  a  somewhat  close 
circle  of  friends,  and  (though  he  was  not  at  all  a  recluse  until 
a  late  date  in  his  life)  mixing  little  in  general  society,  this 
was  really  a  surprising  success.  It  could  not  have  been 
attained  if  he  had  been  other  than  an  exceedingly  discerning 
man  in  the  conduct  of  his  professional  affairs.  Eulogist  and 
detractor  alike  confess  that  there  was  no  better  hand  at  a 
bargain.  I  incline  to  think  that,  on  the  principle  of  "  diamond 
cut  diamond,"  this  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  Rossetti  was 
in  such  special  favour  with  Mr.  Leyland,  of  whom  Mr.  Prinsep 
testifies  "  it  was  the  one  real  friendship  of  his  life."  No 
keener  man  of  business  existed  than  Leyland  ;  and  he  may 
have  relished — and  partly  disrelished — finding  in  Rossetti  a 
foeman  or  a  friend  worthy  of  his  steel.  My  brother  under- 
stood how  far  he  could  go — so  far  he  went ;  and,  having 
fixed  the  terms,  he  knew  how  to  stick  by  them,  unregardful 
of  dubiety  or  demur.  He  was  abundantly  popular,  as  well 
as  most  warmly  admired,  not  only  by  Mr.  Leyland,  but 
generally  within  his  own  circle.  His  naturalness,  heartiness, 
and  good-humour  were  a  standing  passport  to  cordiality  ; 
and  to  these  endowments,  combined  with  nous,  something 
was  probably  conceded  which  would  have  been  denied  to  the 
mere  trafficker  in  paint.  A  business-man  who  is  a  picture- 
buyer — and  for  the  last  half-century  almost  all  our  picture- 
buyers  have  been  business-men — has  his  weak  side,  and,  so 


250  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

far  as  his  relation  to  art  goes,  he  feels  it  a  privilege  to  be 
made  free  of  the  art-precincts,  and  promoted  into  the  intimacy 
of  a  great  or  a  distinguished  painter.  He  is  apt  to  find  the 
world  of  art  much  more  entertaining  than  the  world  of 
commerce  ;  and,  while  pluming  himself  upon  having  converse 
with  persons  whose  names  are  in  all  men's  mouths,  he  can 
still  feel  that,  in  a  certain  sense,  he  himself  "  rules  the  roast," 
as  all  these  fine  performances  would  collapse  without  a 
purchaser  to  sustain  them.  No  one  knew  this  better  than 
Rossetti.  His  net  was  spread  in  the  sight,  but  not  too 
obviously  in  the  sight,  of  several  birds.  Of  the  least  tinge 
of  servility  he  was  by  his  very  nature — but  this  I  need  hardly 
say — incapable. 

Of  literary  product  in  these  times  there  was  but  little. 
The  poems  lay  buried  in  Highgate  Cemetery,  and  for  some 
years  no  more  were  written,  and  no  .thoughts  of  poetic 
publicity  entertained.  So  far  as  I  observe,  the  first  fresh 
verses  which  he  wrote  were  for  his  design,  Aspecta  Medusa 
— eight  lines — in  1865.  In  January  1868  he  wrote  a 
sonnet  for  his  picture  of  Venus  Verticordia,  followed  by 
a  Latin  distych  for  his  Portrait  of  Mrs.  Morris,  and  in 
December  by  his  sonnets  named  Willozv-wood  (and  he  then 
declared  that  he  ought  never  to  have  been  a  painter, 
but  rather  a  poet),  and  by  the  sonnet  Newborn  Death.  In 
prose,  as  far  back  as  1862-63,  he  had  done  a  good  deal  of 
work  upon  the  Blake  book  which  Alexander  Gilchrist  had 
left  not  quite  completed.  The  amount  of  what  he  wrote  for 
insertion  in  the  text  of  the  Life  has  sometimes  been  over- 
rated. Its  sum-total  appears  in  his  Collected  Works.  Besides 
this,  he  edited,  with  a  great  deal  of  pains  as  well  as  of  insight, 
the  poetical  compositions  of  Blake.  I  will  extract,  from  the 
volume  Anne  Gilchrist,  two  of  Rossetti's  utterances,  both 
quite  characteristic  :  — 

"  I  am  working  closely  this  morning  at  the  concluding  chapter,  in 
hope  of  sending  it  off  to-night,  or,  if  not,  certainly  to-morrow.  I  was 
delayed  by  the  necessity  I  found  of  going  to  the  Print-room  [of  the 


INCIDENTS,  1862— 1868.  251 

British  Museum]  to  study  Blake's  coloured  works  there,  as  all  I 
could  think  of  was  to  dwell  on  some  of  these.  Facts,  and  descrip- 
tions of  facts,  are  in  my  line  ;  but  to  talk  about  a  thing  merely  is 
what  I  could  never  well  manage. 

"  I  really  found  it  impossible  to  know  what  to  say  more  of  the 
poems,  individually ;  but  am  sincerely  of  the  opinion  I  express  in 
the  text  as  to  the  uselessness  of  doing  so.  The  truth  is  that,  as 
regards  such  a  poem  as  My  Spectre,  I  do  not  understand  it  a  bit 
better  than  anybody  else  ;  only  I  know,  better  than  some  may  know, 
that  it  has  claims  as  poetry  apart  from  the  question  of  understanding 
it,  and  is  therefore  worth  printing." 


XXVIII. 

INCIDENTS,    1862— 1868. 

It  has  often  been  stated  that  my  brother,  at  Cheyne  Walk, 
kept  from  time  to  time  a  large  number  of  animals.  This  is 
entirely  true.  Being  fond  of  "  beasts,"  and  having  a  large 
garden,  with  plenty  of  space  for  accommodating  them  either 
in  the  open  or  in  corners  partitioned  off,  he  freely  indulged 
his  taste.  He  had  no  particular  liking  for  an  animal  on  the 
mere  ground  of  its  being  "  pretty  " — his  taste  being  far  more 
for  what  is  quaint,  odd,  or  semi-grotesque.  Dante's  specimens 
of  fauna  however  were  often  very  sightly,  as  also  often 
funny  and  out-of-the-way.  I  will  name  some,  as  they  happen 
to  come  ;  others  have  passed  from  memory  into  the  limbo  of 
oblivion. 

There  were  a  Pomeranian  puppy  named  Punch,  a  grand 
Irish  deerhound  named  Wolf,  a  barn-owl  named  Jessie, 
another  owl  named  Bobby  (described  by  Christina  as  "a 
little  owl  with  a  very  large  face  and  a  beak  of  a  sort  of  egg- 
shell green "),  rabbits,  dormice,  hedgehogs,  two  successive 
wombats,  a  Canadian  marmot  or  woodchuck,  an  ordinary 
marmot,  armadilloes,  kangaroos,  wallabies,  a  deer,  a  white 
mouse  with  her  brood,  a  racoon,  squirrels,  a  mole,  peacocks, 
wood-owls,  Virginian  owls,  Chinese  horned  owls,  a  jackdaw, 
laughing  jackasses  (Australian  kingfishers),  undulated  grass- 


252  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTt. 

parrakeets,  a  talking  grey  parrot,  a  raven,  chameleons,  green 
lizards,  and  Japanese  salamanders.1 

Persons  who  are  familiar  with  the  management  of  pets  will 
easily  believe  that  several  of  these  animals  came  to  a  bad 
end.  Punch  the  puppy  would  get  lost  ;  one  or  other  bird 
would  get  drowned  ;  the  dormice  would  fight  and  kill  one 
another,  or  would  eat  up  their  own  tails,  and  gradually  perish  ; 
Wolf  the  deerhound  could  get  no  adequate  exercise,  and  was 
given  away  ;  the  parrakeets  were,  neglected  at  some  time  that 
Rossetti  was  absent  from  home,  and  on  his  return  they  were 
found  dead.  Other  animals,  owing  to  their  burrowing  or 
reclusive  habits,  disappeared.  An  armadillo  was  not  to  be 
found  ;  and  the  tale  went — I  believe  it  to  be  not  far  from  true 
— that,  having  followed  his  ordinary  practice  of  burrowing, 
he  turned  up  from  under  the  hearthstone  of  a  neighbour's 
kitchen,  to  the  serious  dismay  of  the  cook,  who  opined  that, 
if  he  was  not  the  devil,  there  was  no  accounting  for  what  he 
could  possibly  be.  The  racoon,  as  winter  set  in,  made  up  his 
mind  to  hibernate.  He  ensconced  himself  in  a  drawer  of  a 
large  heavy  cabinet  which  stood  in  the  passage  outside  the 
studio-door.  The  drawer  was  shut  upon  him,  without  his 
presence  in  it  transpiring,  and  after  a  while  he  was  supposed 
to  be  finally  lost  to  the  house.  When  spring  ensued,  many 
mysterious  rumbling  or  tramping  or  whimpering  noises  were 
heard  in  the  passage,  or  in  the  studio  as  coming  from  the 
passage.  My  brother  mentioned  them  to  me  more  than  once, 
and  was  ready  to  regard  them  as  one  more  symptom,  by  no 
means  the  first  or  only  one,  that  the  house  was  haunted.  At 
last,  and  I  think  by  mere  casualty,  the  drawer  was  opened, 
and  the  racoon  emerged,  rather  thinner  than  at  his  entry. 
What   the   other   stories   of  ghosts   about   the   old  mansion 

1  Some  years  ago  two  or  three  amusing  and  authentic  articles  on 
Rossetti's  "beasts"  appeared  in  some  journal — I  forget  its  name.  I  have 
the  articles  somewhere,  but  have  not  succeeded  in  laying  hands  upon 
them,  to  be  consulted  for  my  present  purpose.  I  think  it  manifest  that 
the  author  of  them  must  be  my  brother's  art-assistant,  Mr.  Henry  Treffry 
Dunn. 


INCIDENTS,    1862  — 1868.  253 

amounted  to  I  have  mainly  forgotten,  but  am  aware  that  a 
servant,  a  sufficiently  strong-minded  young  woman,  saw  a 
spectre  by  a  bed-room  door  in  November  1870.  The  ghost, 
according  to  Miss  Caine,  "  was  a  woman,  and  appeared  some- 
times at  the  top  of  the  second  flight  of  stairs.  She  retreated 
to  the  room  overlooking  the  Embankment."  My  brother 
never  beheld  any  such  miscellaneous  ghosts,  nor  did  the 
idea  of  them  disturb  him  in  any  sort  of  way,  although  in 
this  and  other  instances  he  was  not  at  all  hostile  to  the 
notion  that  they  might  possibly  be  there.  I  will  not  here 
start  the  question  whether  a  belief  in  ghosts  is  in  itself 
evidence  of  unreason  ;  but  I  will  say  that,  after  making 
allowance  for  belief  in  their  possibility,  my  brother's  attitude 
of  mind  on  the  subject  was  not  unreasonable,  as  he  thought 
that,  assuming  their  existence,  they  are  just  as  much  a  part 
of  the  scheme  of  Nature  and  the  Universe  as  any  other  part, 
and  therefore  not  to  be  regarded  with  mere  panic.  A  disem- 
bodied spirit  is  the  same,  mutatis  mutandis,  as  an  embodied  one. 
The  beasts  upon  which  Dante's  affections  were  prodigalized 
were  the  first  wombat  and  his  successor  the  woodchuck. 
The  second  wombat,  having  died  immediately,  counts  for 
little.  No  more  engagingly  lumpish  quadruped  than  the 
first  wombat  could  be  found,  and  none  more  obese  and 
comfortable  than  the  woodchuck.  They  were  both  tame, 
especially  the  woodchuck  ;  and  Dante  would  sit  with  either 
in  his  arms  by  the  half-hour  together,  dandling  them  paunch 
upward,  scratching  gently  at  their  cheeks  or  noses,  or  making 
the  woodchuck's  head  and  hind-paws  meet.  With  the  wombat 
ho  such  operation  was  possible.  Each  of  them  was  his  house- 
mate for  some  time,  and  each  expired  without  premonition.  I 
do  not  assume  that  my  brother  wept  over  them,  but  certainly 
"  his  heart  was  sair."  For  the  wombat  (not  having  yet  seen 
it)  he  wrote  from  Penkill  Castle  the  following  quatrain  : — 

"  Oh  how  the  family  affections  combat 
Within  this  heart,  and  each  hour  flings  a  bomb  at 
My  burning  soul !     Neither  from  owl  nor  from  bat 
Can  peace  be  gained  until   I  clasp  my  wombat." 


2  54  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

The  matutinal  screeching  of  one  or  more  of  Rossetti's 
peacocks  proved  so  afflictive  to  his  neighbours  that  Lord 
Cadogan,  the  Ground-landlord,  afterwards  introduced  into 
all  Cheyne  Walk  leases,  as  has  been  stated  on  good  authority, 
a  clause  to  the  effect  that  the  tenants  were  not  to  keep  any 
peacocks.  Here,  extracted  from  my  Diary  for  December 
1 87 1,  is  a  curious  anecdote  about  the  peacock,  which  may 
perhaps  deserve  a  moment's  attention : — 

"  The  deer  that  Gabriel  used  to  have,  now  dead,  one  day  saw  the 
peacock  making  a  great  display  of  his  train.  .  .  .  The  deer  followed 
him  about ;  and,  though  not  displaying  any  peculiarly  marked  ill-will, 
systematically  trampled  out  all  his  train  feathers,  one  after  the  other. 
Shortly  after  this,  Gabriel  gave  the  peacock  away." 

There  was  one  of  Rossetti's  animals — a  zebu,  or  small 
Brahmin  bull — as  to  which  some  burlesque  particulars  have 
got  into  print.  Mr.  Knight  relates  the  story,  giving  as  his 
authority  Mr.  Whistler,  who  is  just  the  man  (and  so  Mr. 
Knight  puts  it)  for  a  few  humorous  embellishments.  Mr. 
Prinsep  also  relates  it  to  nearly  the  same  effect,  and  he  gives 
Rossetti  himself  as  his  authority.  The  zebu  was  seen  by 
my  brother  and  myself,  perhaps  in  1863,  m  a  beast-show  held 
in  Cremorne  Gardens.  He  was  a  beautiful  animal,  not  larger 
than  a  pony  of  small  size.  My  brother  wanted  to  buy  him 
for  some  £20,  and  I  co-operated.  All  that  I  remember  about 
the  subsequent  circumstances  is  the  following.  The  zebu 
was  brought  to  Tudor  House,  and  charged  at  a  fine  pace 
through  the  passage  into  the  garden.  There  he  was  tethered 
to  a  tree  by  Rossetti's  man-servant.  My  brother,  after  a  day 
or  two,  was  engaged  in  inspecting  him,  when  the  zebu,  more 
or  less  irritated  by  confinement,  went  in  a  hostile  mood 
towards  the  painter,  who  naturally  dodged  round  the  tree- 
trunk.  As  this  experience  showed  that  the  zebu  was  not 
a  convenient  tenant  for  the  garden,  Rossetti  re-sold  him,  and 
he  departed  in  peace.  I  question  whether  the  animal  "  tore 
up  by  the  roots  the  tree  to  which  it  was  attached,"  though  it 
did  display  a  large  amount  of  physical  strength  ;  or  that  it 


INCIDENTS,    1862  — 1868.  255 

"  chased  its  tormentor  round  the  garden,"  in  any  sense  rightly- 
belonging  to  these  words.  I  was  not  however  present  on  the 
occasion,  and  cannot  aver  that  I  even  saw  the  zebu  after  he 
had  once  entered  the  premises. 

I  have  just  been  referring  to  the  superstitious  or  semi- 
superstitious  traits  in  my  brother's  character,  which  were 
very  clearly  marked.  "  Thirteen  at  table  "  was  a  contingency 
which  did  not  escape  his  notice.  In  a  letter  of  his  to  Madox 
Brown,  dated  in  1864,  he  authorizes  his  friend  to  bring,  with 
others,  his  younger  daughter  to  a  dinner,  if  Brown  does  not 
mind  the  result  of  thirteen  at  table— and  he  was  about  the 
last  person  to  mind  it.  A  later  dinner  was  planned  for 
fourteen,  which  number  was  reduced  to  thirteen  by  a  defec- 
tion at  the  last  moment,  and  Rossetti  hurried  away  his 
servant  to  catch  a  fourteenth  somewhere  or  other.  Mr.  Bell 
Scott  says  that  "  he  began  to  call  up  the  spirit  of  his  wife  by 
table-turning,"  and  relates  an  incident  of  the  kind  happening 
in  1866;  and  he  adds  that  "long  before  that  year"  my 
brother  had  "gone  into  spiritualism."  I  cannot  say  with 
accuracy  how  soon  such  attempts  began.  I  myself  witnessed 
some  in  1865,  '66,  '68,  and  '70.  I  will  not  enter  into  details, 
but  will  only  say  that  now  and  again  demonstrations  occurred 
(especially  some  in  which  a  Mr.  Bergheim  was  concerned) 
which  astonished  me  not  a  little,  and  for  which  I  was  and 
am  unable  to  account  ;  at  other  times  there  were  mere 
confusion  and  cross-purposes.  Although  Rossetti  was,  as  I 
have  already  said,  not  plunged  into  monotonous  gloom  by 
the  death  of  his  wife,  the  idea  of  her  was  in  these  years  very 
constantly  present  to  him.  Poignant  memories  and  painful 
associations  were  his  portion  ;  and  he  was  prone  to  think 
that  some  secret  might  yet  be  wrested  from  the  grave. 

With  the  family  of  his  deceased  wife  my  brother  did  not 
keep  up  any  close  personal  relations,  yet  he  did  not  entirely 
lose  knowledge  of  them.  I  observe  that  in  August  1867  he 
was  sending  ;£io  to  her  brother  Harry  ;  and  evidence  of  like 
kind  goes  on  as  late  as  1878. 

His   general    habits   were   social   enough.     He   became   a 


256  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

member  of  the  Garrick  Club  before  1865  ;  afterwards  of  the 
Arundel  Club  ;  and,  upon  its  foundation  early  in  1 866,  of 
the  Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club.  This  last  membership  he 
(and  also  I)  relinquished  at  the  end  of  1867,  owing  to  the 
expulsion — which  was  contrary  to  his  sense  of  fair  play,  and 
also  to  his  individual  liking — of  a  fellow-member,  a  painter 
of  much  distinction.  I  do  not  give  the  name,  nor  other 
particulars.  The  other  memberships  died  out  in  course  of 
time — with  no  special  reason  except  a  change  in  habits  and 
interests  on  his  part.  At  the  Arundel  Club  he  used  to  meet 
Mr.  Knight,  Mr.  Rose,  and  others  with  whom  he  was  on  very 
easy  terms.  Here  also  he  met  Mr.  W.  S.  Gilbert,  who  has 
become  the  inexhaustible  purveyor  of  laughter  to  two 
continents.  He  did  not  take  to  Mr.  Gilbert  personally ;  but, 
when  the  Bab  Ballads  began  appearing  in  Fun  in  1867, 
Rossetti  was  enormously  tickled  with  their  eccentricities  of 
humour  and  gymnastics  of  the  ludicrous,  and  I  have  heard 
him  recite  many  of  these  examples  of  "  excellent  fooling  " 
in  all  sorts  of  companies.  He  was  never  tired  of  them,  and 
loud  and  contagious  guffaws  attested  that  neither  were  his 
auditors  tired.  I  mention  this  small  matter,  not  so  much  for 
its  own  sake  as  because  it  illustrates  my  brother's  alacrity  at 
doing  profuse  justice  to  the  talents  even  of  a  writer  for  whom 
he  neither  professed  nor  felt  the  least  predilection.  Besides 
his  general  sociality  in  these  years — evidenced  by  liking  to 
see  his  friends  about  him,  whether  to  dinner  or  otherwise, 
and  by  going  out  to  dine  not  unfrequently,  which  was 
perhaps  principally  towards  1869 — my  brother  was  really  a 
good-natured  and  even  an  accommodating  host  to  some  of 
his  familiars,  when  it  served  their  convenience.  Thus  Mr. 
Sandys  became  an  established  inmate  of  the  house  for  about 
a  year  and  a  quarter,  terminating  in  the  summer  of  1867  ; 
and  another  painter,  Mr.  George  Chapman,  who  was  in 
serious  ill-health  and  otherwise  "  out  of  luck,"  was  there  for 
a  shorter  period,  some  three  or  four  months.  He  died  before 
attaining  middle  age  ;  viewed  by  my  brother  with  consider- 
able   regard    for    his    facility    of  invention     and    grace    in 


INCIDENTS,    1862 — 1868.  257 

portraiture,  though  his  loose  and  haphazard  methods  of  work 
were  often  the  subject  of  some  amicable  remonstrance. 
Other  friends  of  this  period  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Spartali  and 
their  beautiful  daughters  ;  some  other  members  of  the  Greek 
community  in  London,  especially  the  Dilberoglues,  and 
various  branches  of  the  Itmides  family  ;  Mr.  Dodgson  (the 
"  Lewis  Carroll  "  of  Alice  in  Wonderland),  who,  being  a  good 
amateur  photographer,  took  some  few  excellent  likenesses 
of  Rossetti  ;  and  Mr.  Charles  Fairfax  Murray,  who,  when 
a  mere  youth,  became  known  to  my  brother  as  an  artistic 
aspirant,  and  who  developed  into  a  painter  of  good  standing, 
and  a  vendor  and  collector  of  works  of  art. 

There  was  another  young  man  who,  at  one  time  or  other, 
played  a  considerable  part  in  Rossetti's  life,  and  of  whom  it 
may  behove  me  here  to  say  something  definite.  His  name 
was  Charles  Augustus  Howell.  He  survived  my  brother,  but 
has  been  dead  now  some  few  years.  It  was  in  or  about  1856 
that  I  casually  met  a  man  of  some  twenty-five  years  of  age, 
of  gentlemanly  address,  who  had  once  been  in  the  army. 
I  will  designate  him  by  his  initials,  J.  F.  H.  (the  name  is  not 
Howell).  Through  me,  and  through  his  own  rather  pushing 
ways,  he  became  known  to  various  members  of  my  circle, 
including  my  brother ;  who,  being  kind-heartedly  anxious  to 
help  him  out  of  circumstances  of  great  money-embarrassment, 
promoted  his  interests  to  the  best  of  his  power.  J.  F.  H. 
made  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Howell,  an  Anglo-Portuguese 
young  gentleman  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  intro- 
duced him  to  us  ;  a  very  well-grown,  pleasant-spoken, 
sprightly  youth,  looking  some  few  years  older  than  he  then 
was.  After  a  while,  but  not  until  some  mischief  had  been 
done  in  attempts  to  serve  him,  J.  F.  H.  was  found  by  Howell 
to  be  a  very  disgraceful  character.  Howell  gave  us  notice 
of  this,  and  J.  F.  H.  was  abandoned  to  his  fate — which 
proved  to  be  an  equally  dismal  and  well-deserved  one.  This 
disclosure  may  have  been  towards  the  end  of  1857.  Mr. 
Howell  knew  something  (we  did  not)  of  the  Italian  patriot 
Felice  Orsini,  who  figures  in  most  memories  as  more  assassin 

VOL.   I.  17 


258  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

than  patriot,  but  in  fact  he  was  both  ;  and  Howell  was  in 
some  way  (but  I  am  sure  without  any  conscious  connivance) 
mixed  up  with  the  procuring  or  the  dispatching  of  the 
infernal  machine  or  machines  which  in  January  1858  Orsini 
exploded  against  Napoleon  III.  ^Before  the  explosion  took 
place  Howell  had  quitted  England,  and  returned  to  his 
family  in  Portugal.  In  1864  ne  was  back  in  London  ;  and 
he  sought  out  my  brother  and  myself,  who  had  always  liked 
him,  and  felt  much  indebted  to  him  for  unmasking  J.  F.  H., 
and  so  preventing  us  from  continuing  to  countenance  the 
latter  in  any  way. 

London  can  have  contained  in  1864  few  more  agreeable 
young  men  than  Charles  Augustus  Howell.  He  united  the 
attractions  of  youthfulness  and  of  aplomb.  His  face  was 
handsome  though  rather  outre ;  not  a  little  like  that  of  King 
Philip  IV.  in  the  magnificent  full-length  by  Velasquez  in  the 
National  Gallery,  but  superior  in  manliness,  the  expression  of 
talent,  and  hair  which,  being  dark  chestnut  in  tint,  was  free 
from  the  vapid  effeminacy  which  marks  the  flaxen  locks  of 
Philip.  Howell  had  seen  a  good  deal  of  the  world,  had  many 
accomplishments  and  a  ready  insight  in  fine  art,  and  was 
a  capital  and  most  entertaining  talker.  He  had  not  any 
artistic  faculty  of  his  own ;  but  was  nevertheless  an  excellent 
facsimilist  (and  as  such  acknowledged  by  Ruskin)  of  water- 
colours  and  the  like.  Throughout  Rossetti's  circle  he  at  once 
became  a  prime  favourite.  He  thus  formed  the  acquaintance 
of  Mr.  Ruskin,  who  engaged  him  as  his  secretary,  and  who, 
I  believe,  cherished  him  extremely  for  some  while,  and  placed 
the  most  implicit  confidence  in  him.  I  am  neither  required 
nor  qualified  to  enter  into  an  account  of  the  relations  between 
Mr.  Ruskin  and  Mr.  Howell.  I  know  that  they  came  to  a 
close  towards  the  end  of  1870  ;  and  my  impression  is  that  a 
highly  distinguished  friend  of  Rossetti,  one  who  liked  Howell 
enormously  at  first,  and  disliked  him  intensely  afterwards, 
had  something  to  do  with  this  result.  This  change  of  feeling 
put  Rossetti  into  a  position  of  embarrassment,  between  the 
friend  who  wanted  him  to  cut  Howell,  and  Howell  himself, 


INCIDENTS,    1862— 1868.  259 

who  as  yet  continued  to  be  much  to  his  taste.  Mr. 
Collingwood,  in  his  book  on  Ruskin,1  makes  some  statements 
disadvantageous  to  Howell,  impugning  his  honesty.  As  I 
know  nothing  about  the  details,  I  will  leave  them  as  they 
stand,  and  will  also  for  the  present  leave  Howell,  who  will 
more  than  once  re-appear  as  we  proceed. 

Mr.  Bell  Scott  and  his  wife,  leaving  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
settled  in  London  in  1864,  and  from  this  date  forward 
Rossetti  saw  his  old  friend  frequently,  and  continued  to  value 
him  highly.  He  had  visited  Scott  in  Newcastle  at  the  end  of 
1862,  and  then  sat  (to  Mr.  Downey)  for  that  photograph 
which  is  the  best  known  of  all  his  portraits — a  standing 
figure,  three-quarters  length,  in  an  Inverness  cape  (or  Tyneside 
wrapper,  as  the  garment  was  then  frequently  called).  In  the 
autumn  of  1863  he  revisited  with  me  a  few  Belgian  cities  ; 
and  in  1864  he  was  in  Paris  for  a  short  while — I  think,  the 
very  last  of  his  small  foreign  trips.  Towards  the  same  time 
when  Scott  settled  in  London,  another  old  friend,  Thomas 
Woolner,  dropped  out  of  Rossetti's  circle — a  matter  which  I 
always  deeply  regretted.  I  cannot  say  that  my  brother  was 
to  blame,  although  a  person  much  more  tolerant  or  much 
meeker  than  he  might  have  deserved  commendation  for 
adopting  a  different  course.  He  once  gave  me  a  very  explicit 
account  of  the  facts,  to  the  following  effect.  He  was  among 
friends,  talking  of  Woolner  with  his  accustomed  cordiality, 
when  one  of  them — the  same  whom,  in  referring  to  Howell,  I 
designated  as  "  highly  distinguished  " — said  to  him,  "  I  am 
rather  surprised  to  hear  you  speaking  of  Woolner  in  such 
terms,  for  he,  to  my  knowledge,  speaks  of  you  in  very  different 
terms."  This  staggered  Rossetti,  who,  pursuing  the  point, 
became  convinced  that  Woolner,  not  on  one  occasion  only  but 
as  the  general  tone  of  his  speech  when  the  subject  arose, 
talked  of  him  in  a  way  quite  inconsistent  with  genuine  regard, 
or  even  with  considerate  allowance.  That  my  brother  had 
his  faults  is  amply  true,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  what 

1  Vol.  ii.,  pp.  59-61,  115. 


260  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Woolner  commented  upon  with  asperity  were  real  faults, 
and  not  vamped-up  imputations  ;  but  to  Woolner  himself 
Rossetti  had  given  no  cause  of  complaint  at  any  date,  recent 
or  remote.  My  brother  hereupon  ceased  to  see  Woolner  ;  he 
got  to  regard  him  with  antipathy,  and  sometimes  to  speak 
of  him  with  bitterness.  The  sculptor  indeed  was  well  known 
for  his  biting  tongue,  and  there  were  perhaps  few  of  his 
acquaintances  who,  present  or  absent,  were  not  at  some  time 
subjected  to  its  sharpness.  Some  while  afterwards — in  1868 
— my  brother  dropped  in  to  see  me  one  evening,  quickly 
followed  by  Woolner  (for  I  never  myself  was  at  variance  with 
him,  although  in  the  course  of  later  years  we  drifted  apart). 
I  viewed  the  encounter  with  some  alarm  ;  but  it  passed  off 
without  anything  unpleasant,  each  of  the  two  now  sundered 
friends  treating  the  other  with  ease  which  faintly  simulated 
good-will.  I  was  then  in  hopes  that  they  might  become 
reconciled  ;  but  no  steps  were  taken  by  either  with  such  an 
object,  and  I  imagine  they  never  met  again.  Woolner  did 
indeed  call  at  my  brother's  house  in  the  summer  of  1870;  but 
the  latter  on  that  day  was  "  not  at  home  "  to  any  one,  and  he 
did  not  hear  of  the  visit  until  his  once  intimate  comrade  had 
quitted  his  threshold. 

From  Mr.  Ruskin  also  there  was  a  most  unfortunate 
severance.  The  two  men  liked  one  another — at  one  time  I 
am  sure  they  even  loved  one  another— but  ominous  dis- 
crepancies began  to  appear  not  very  long  after  Rossetti  had 
settled  in  Cheyne  Walk,  and  gradually  these  became  irre- 
mediable, or  at  any  rate  they  remained  unremedied.  There 
is  a  certain  fatal  divergence  between  an  autocratic  Mentor 
who  tells  a  painter  what  he  ought  and  ought  not  to  do,  and 
the  painter  himself,  who,  having  an  ardent  invention,  and 
a  decided  opinion  as  to  the  range  and  the  limitations  of  his 
own  powers  of  work,  is  expected  to  conform  to  the  critic's 
notions  instead.  It  is  notorious  moreover — and  therefore  I 
need  not  scruple  to  say  it — that  Mr.  Ruskin's  opinions  as  to 
what  is  right  or  wrong,  to  be  or  not  to  be  recommended,  in 
artistic  execution,  have  differed  very  much  at  different  times ; 


INCIDENTS,    1862— 1868.  26l 

and  that,  with  characteristic  but  embarrassing  candour,  he 
has  unsaid  in  one  year  several  things  which  he  had  said  in 
previous  years.  This  may  have  suited  himself,  but  cannot 
be  supposed  to  have  suited  the  living  subjects  of  his  comments. 
I  have  by  me  four  letters  from  Mr.  Ruskin  to  my  brother, 
proper  to  the  summer  of  1865  ;  the  fourth  alone  is  dated — 
18  July  1865.  They  must  all  have  been  consequent  upon 
his  seeing,  in  the  painter's  studio,  the  picture  of  Venus 
Verticordia,  with  its  foreground  of  roses  and  honeysuckles. 
They  are  somewhat  long,  and  I  only  extract  a  few  sentences 
(not  always  consecutive  in  the  letters  themselves)  to  show 
how  matters  stood  : — 

"  (1)  It  is  very  good  and  pretty  of  you  to  answer  so.  You  are,  it 
seems,  under  the  (for  the  present)  fatal  mistake  of  thinking  that  you 
will  ever  learn  to  paint  well  by  painting  badly — i.e.,  coarsely.  But 
come  back  to  me  when  you  have  found  out  your  mistake,,  or  (if  you 
are  right  in  your  method)  when  you  can  do  better.  I  am  very  glad, 
at  all  events,  to  understand  you  better  than  I  did,  in  the  grace  and 
sweetness  of  your  letters. — (2)  I  purposely  used  the  word  '  wonder- 
fully '  painted  about  those  flowers.  They  were  wonderful  to  me,,  in 
their  realism  ;  awful — I  can  use  no  other  word — in  their  coarseness. 
Come  and  see  me  now,  if  you  like. — (3)  Please  come  now  the  first 
fine  evening — tea  at  seven. —(4)  I  am  very  grateful  to  you  for  this 
letter,  and  for  the  feelings  it  expresses  towards  me.  You  meant 
them — the  first  and  second — just  as  rightly  as  this  pretty  third  ;  and 
yet  they  conclusively  showed  me  that  we  could  not  at  present — nor 
for  some  time  yet— be  companions  any  more,  though  true  friends,  I 
hope,  as  ever.  I  do  not  choose  any  more  to  talk  to  you  until  you 
can  recognize  my  superiorities  as  /  can  yours.  You  simply  do  not 
see  certain  characters  in  me.  A  day  may  come  when  you  will  be 
able ;  then — without  apology,  without  restraint,  merely  as  being 
different  from  what  you  are  now — come  back  to  me,  and  we  will  be 
as  we  used  to  be." 

Two  things  are  clear  from  these  extracts  :  1,  That  the  tone 
of  Rossetti's  letters  was  such  as  Ruskin  did  not,  and  probably 
could  not,  complain  of;  2,  That  Ruskin,  after  encouraging 
Rossetti  to  call  upon  him  at  once,  stringently  forbade  him 


262  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

to  do  so.  I  will  in  no  wise  discuss  whether  Ruskin  was  right 
or  wrong  in  all  this  ;  but  of  one  thing  we  may  be  tolerably 
certain — that  Rossetti  did  not  call  upon  him.  I  assume  that 
he  did  not  in  any  way  reply  to  the  last  letter. 

The  only  sequel  that  I  know  of  to  this  correspondence 
of  1865  is  that  on  4  December  1866  I  dined  with  Mr. 
Ruskin  and  his  family,  by  invitation,  and  a  very  pleasant 
evening  did  I  spend  in  the  house.  Ruskin  expressed  to  me 
a  wish  to  resume  seeing  my  brother,  and  I  suggested  whether 
he  would  call  in  Cheyne  Walk,  and,  if  he  did  so,  would  be 
cautious  in  avoiding  any  topic  of  possible  irritation.  On  the 
following  day  Ruskin  did,  in  the  friendliest  spirit,  make  the 
visit.  I  was  not  present,  but  learned  that  "  all  went  off  most 
cordially — Ruskin  expressing  great  admiration  of  the  Beatrice 
in  a  Death-trance  "  (Beata  Beatrix),  on  which  my  brother  was 
then  engaged.  I  am  afraid  however  that  this  call  was  not 
followed  up  in  any  sort  of  way.  Rossetti,  very  likely,  did 
not  return  the  visit — partly  from  general  indisposition  to  any 
such  regulated  performance,  and  partly  apprehending  that 
some  new  cause  of  difficulty  or  dissension  might  arise.  He 
had  better  have  risked  the  chance,  and  gone  without  delay. 
I  think  that  the  very  last  occasion  when  the  old  friends  met 
was  in  September  1868.  Ruskin  then  called  on  Rossetti, 
and  raised  some  question  whether  the  latter  would  not  join 
him  in  efforts  for  social  ameliorations  on  a  systematic  scale  ; 
but  this  was  not  the  painter's  line,  and  he  did  not  take  any 
practical  steps  about  it.  After  this,  there  was,  to  the  best  of 
my  belief,  no  further  personal  meeting.  In  August  1869  Mr. 
Ruskin  was  elected  Slade  Professor  of  Fine  Art  in  Oxford 
University  ;  and  his  time  was  at  first  shared  between  London 
and  Oxford,  and  ultimately  he  settled  in  the  latter  city. 
Anyhow  a  sad  ending  had  come  to  a  friendship  which  had 
once  been  so  affectionate,  and  which,  in  the  annals  of  art, 
might  some  day  almost  count  as  historical.  At  least,  their 
parting  was  not  in  anger.  Moreover,  up  to  1870  or  there- 
abouts, my  brother  continued  to  hear  a  good  deal  about 
Mr.   Ruskin,  as   Mr.   Howell  remained  as  yet  his  secretary  : 


INCIDENTS,    1862— 1868.  263 

and  there  is  a  letter  from  Ruskin  to  Rossetti,  as  late  as 
August  1870,  perfectly  amicable,  and  including  a  reference  to 
the  Poems  then  published. 

In  these  years  Rossetti  developed  a  kind  of  passion  for 
collecting  curious  objects  of  art — chairs  and  tables,  cabinets, 
hangings,  looking-glasses  (he  had  a  special  fancy  for  convex 
mirrors),  pictures  in  a  very  minor  way,  and  most  particularly 
Japanese  prints  and  oddities,  and  blue  china,  whether  Japanese 
or  Chinese.  With  the  European  he  never  concerned  himself. 
He  built  up  elaborate  fireplaces  in  his  house,  with  old  carved 
oak,  antiquated  Dutch  tiles,  and  the  like.  He  also  raised  in 
his  garden  a  large  tent  or  marquee,  in  which  we  often  dined 
in  the  summer,  beginning  with  1868.  A  friendly  rivalry 
subsisted  between  Mr.  Whistler  and  him,  especially  as  to 
China  and  Japan.  There  must  of  course  have  been  in  London 
some  fine  collections  of  "  blue  china  "  before  Rossetti's  time. 
Mr.  Huth's  collection  was  one  ;  but  my  brother's-  zeal  and 
persistence  were  such  as  to  send  up  prices  in  the  market. 
The  well-known  Art-dealers,  Messrs  Marks,  acted  for  him  in 
many  cases.  One  of  his  earliest  purchases  was  that  of  the 
whole  collection  of  blue  china  formed  by  the  retiring  Italian 
Ambassador,  the  Marquis  d'Azeglio.  Its  cost  to  my  brother 
was  I  think  ^"200.  In  March  1867  he  bought  of  Messrs. 
Marks  two  hawthorn-pots  (Rossetti  invented  this  name) 
which,  with  their  covers,  cost  him  ^120.  He  paid  in  the  form 
of  a  picture,  not  of  money  down.  In  fact,  what  between  free 
expenditure  and  good  taste  in  choice,  he  formed  a  very  fine 
display  of  blue  china,  which  made  his  big  sunlit  drawing- 
room  a  sight  to  see.  As  to  "  the  Japanese  mania,"  which  has 
by  this  time  half-revolutionized  European  art  of  all  kinds,  I 
hardly  know  what  Londoner  preceded  Mr.  Whistler  and  my 
brother.  They  made  bids  against  each  other  in  Paris  as  well 
as  in  London,  and  were  possibly  a  little  nettled  to  learn  in 
Paris  that  there  was  another  painter — the  renowned  Tissot — 
who  outstripped  them  both  in  acquisition.  Rossetti  gave  a 
deal  of  time  as  well  as  energy  to  the  collecting  of  china  etc. 
I   have  seen  him  come   home   late,  rather  fagged   from  his 


264  DANTE  GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

eager  pursuit,  with  a  cargo  of  blue  either  actually  in  hand 
or  ordered  to  arrive  ;  and,  as  he  dropped  into  an  easy-chair, 
he  called  out  "  Pots,  pots  !  "  with  a  thrilling  accent.  It  spoke 
at  once  of  achievement  and  of  despondency.  Such  may  have 
been  the  tone  of  Alexander  of  Macedon  when  he  deplored 
that  there  were  no  more  worlds  to  conquer. 

In  the  way  of  pictures  his  most  notable  purchase  was  a 
moderate-sized  Botticelli,  obtained  at  Colnaghi's  sale  in 
March  1867  for  the  small  sum  of  £20  (towards  1880  he  re- 
sold it  to  a  friend  for  £3 15) — a  half-length  figure,  highly 
characteristic  of  its  painter,  of  a  young  woman  in  whitish 
drapery,  in  a  close  architectural  background.  Botticelli  was 
little  or  not  at  all  in  demand  at  that  now  remote  date.  If 
my  brother  had  not  something  to  do  with  the  vogue  which 
soon  afterwards  began  to  attach  to  that  fascinating  master, 
I  am  under  a  misapprehension. 

In  October  1869  I  made  a  jotting  :  "  The  collecting-passion 
seems  extinct  in  Gabriel  these  several  months."  I  cannot  say 
that  it  had  not  any  recurrences  from  time  to  time  ;  but  its 
force  was  now  spent,  and  never  afterwards  returned  to  a 
like  level. 


XXIX. 

BEGINNINGS  OF  ILL-HEALTH— PENKILL   CASTLE. 

DANTE  ROSSETTl  had  naturally  a  strong  constitution.  His 
muscular  strength  was  only  moderate,  but  neither  in  this 
respect  nor  in  others  was  he  a  weakling.  He  was  not  con- 
stantly ailing,  on  and  off,  nor  frequently  laid  aside  from  work 
because  the  state  of  his  health  would  not  admit  of  his 
attending  to  it.  He  had  some  decided  illnesses,  and  every 
now  and  then  he  was  "  out  of  sorts  " — an  indigestive  or 
feverish  attack,  a  violent  cold,  or  what  not.  On  the  whole 
he  was  a  healthy  child  and  boy,  and,  up  to  the  autumn  of 
1866,  when  his  age  was  thirty-eight,  a  healthy  man.  Neither 
should  it  be  supposed  that  after  that  date  he  was  continually 


BEGINNINGS   OF   ILL-HEALTH — PENKILL   CASTLE.      265 

ill.  In  various  respects  he  remained  well ;  and  there  were 
intervals  when  one  could  hardly  say  that  anything  distinct 
was  amiss  with  him.  He  as  yet  bore  attacks  of  illness  well 
enough — impatiently,  as  was  his  bent,  but  not  querulously 
nor  faint-heartedly. 

Towards  the  autumn  of  1866  he  became  subject  to  a  com- 
plaint (I  do  not  care  to  define  it)  which  required  surgical 
treatment  from  time  to  time.  The  first  instance  was  in  August 
1868.  He  minded  this  not  at  all ;  and  I  have  seen  him  resume 
painting  within  five  minutes  of  one  of  the  slight  operations. 
But  there  was  worse  in  store  for  him. 

Insomnia  began  in  1867.  Why  did  it  begin?  I  consider 
that  painful  thoughts,  partly  but  not  wholly  connected  with 
his  wife  and  her  death,  were  at  the  root  of  it.  Rossetti  was 
one  of  the  worst  men  living  to  cope  with  this  fell  antagonist. 
No  doubt  there  must  be  some  persons  of  a  sedate  or  phlegmatic 
temperament  who  will  make  up  their  minds  to  do  with  little 
sleep  if  they  cannot  get  much,  and  will  wile  away  the  sleepless 
hours  in  some  quiet  occupation,  such  as  reading  ;  or  they  may 
even  fully  submit  to  the  inconvenience,  and  simply  make  their 
working  day  all  the  longer  for  the  privation.  Rossetti  was 
not  one  of  these,  unhappily  for  himself.  His  active  imagina- 
tion gave  him  no  respite  ;  and  to  be  sleepless  was  to  be 
agitated  and  miserable  and  haggard  as  well.  Haunted  by 
memories,  harried  by  thoughts  and  fantasies,  he  tossed  and 
turned  on  the  unrestful  bed. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1867  his  eyesight  began 
to  fail.  Sunlight  or  artificial  light  became  increasingly  pain- 
ful to  him,  producing  sensations  of  giddiness  etc.  Even  the 
gas-lamps  in  the  streets  affected  him  distressingly.  He 
consulted  the  famous  oculists,  Sir  William  Bowman  and  Dr. 
Bader.  They  both  assured  him  that  his  eyes  were  not  organi- 
cally wrong,  but  that  the  weakness  of  sight  depended  upon 
general  overstrain  and  nervous  upset.  He  also  consulted  Sir 
William  Gull  and  Mr.  Marshall,  and  later  on  (1870)  Dr. 
Critchett,  who  confirmed  the  same  opinion.  Dr.  Critchett's 
view  was  that  the  eyes  were  naturally  more  than  duly  fiat ; 


266  DANTE   GABRIEL  ROSSETTl. 

and  that  unconscious  muscular  power,  which  had,  when  in 
full  health,  been  exerted  to  counteract  this,  was  now  no  longer 
at  the  patient's  command  in  equal  measure.  All  this  was 
well,  so  far  as  it  went ;  yet  it  was  hardly  capable  of  re-assuring 
a  painter  who  found  himself  impeded  in  painting,  and  who 
too  well  remembered  that  his  father  had  become  nearly  blind. 
He  began  using  strong  spectacles,  often  two  pairs  one  over 
the  other ;  and,  as  the  years  progressed,  he  scarcely  ever  took 
the  spectacles  off,  persisting  in  wearing  them  even  when  he 
was  merely  seated  in  talk  with  friends.  In  September  1868 
he  went  with  Mr.  Dunn  on  a  brief  trip  to  Stratford-on-Avon, 
Warwick,  and  Kenilworth  ;  and  late  in  the  month  he  again 
left  town  for  Penkill  Castle,  Ayrshire,  visiting  on  the  way 
Leeds,  where  a  large  art-collection  had  been  got  up.  With 
the  authorities  of  this  exhibition  he  had  already  had  some  to- 
do,  as  they  had  accepted  from  the  owners  certain  pictures  by 
Rossetti,  which  he  wanted  to  be  withheld,  and  to  this  require- 
ment they  reluctantly  yielded.  He  did  not  like  that  any  of  his 
productions,  possibly  of  secondary  merit,  should  ever  appear 
here  and  there  in  a  scattered  sort  of  way,  but  wished  to  reserve 
himself  for  any  time — if  ever  this  should  come — when  he  might 
collect  a  number  of  his  best  works,  to  be  viewed  in  their  proper 
relation  one  with  another.  Such  a  time  never  did  come,  though 
it  was  often  kept  in  his  mind's  eye. 

Penkill  Castle  is  the  seat  of  Miss  (Alice)  Boyd,  a  Scotch 
lady  then  verging  on  middle  age,  who  was  on  terms  of  very 
intimate  friendship  with  Mr.  Bell  Scott.  She  had  been  known 
to  my  brother  for  some  few  years.  Mr.  Scott  was  then 
staying  at  the  Castle  ;  and  both  Miss  Boyd  and  he  did  a 
great  deal  to  cheer  and  divert  Rossetti.  A  lady  of  sweeter 
character  and  temper  than  Miss  Boyd,  or  of  more  delicacy 
and  liveliness  of  address,  does  not  exist.  Her  intellectual 
power  is  high,  and  her  gift  for  painting  noticeable.  The 
Family-letters  show  a  few  details  as  to  this  in  some  respects 
most  pleasant  sojourn.  At  a  rather  later  date,  in  writing  to 
Mr.  Shields,  the  term  which  Rossetti  used  for  Miss  Boyd  was 
"  a  rarely  precious  woman." 


BEGINNINGS   OF   ILL-HEALTH— PENKILL   CASTLE.      267 

Besides  Miss  Boyd  and  Mr.  Scott,  there  was  a  second  lady- 
staying  in  1868  in  Penkill  Castle — Miss  Losh,  who  was  a 
cousin  of  Miss  Boyd,  but  much  older,  sixty-seven  years  of 
age.  Miss  Losh  took  an  extraordinary  liking  for  my  brother 
— in  whose  manner,  not  to  speak  of  his  genius,  there  was 
something  singularly  fascinating  to  many  and  to  very  diverse 
persons.  Mr.  Scott,  in  his  Autobiographical  Notes,  shows  that 
he  himself  had  no  great  predilection  for  Miss  Losh,  saying 
that  she 

"had  somehow  or  other  taken  a  jealous  dislike  to  me,  thinking  I 
had  too  much  influence  over  her  younger  cousin,  who  entertained 
me  so  much,  and  who  lived  with  us  in  London  in  the  winter.  She 
had  therefore  looked  forward  to  Rossetti's  appearance,  fully  intending 
to  play  him  off  against  me,  which  accordingly  she  did  in  the  most 
fantastic  way." 

Mr.  Scott  approved  as  little  of  Rossetti's  dealings  with 
Miss  Losh  as  of  that  lady's  dealings  with  Rossetti.  His 
narrative  continues  as  follows  : — 

"  The  old  lady's  admiration  had  culminated  in  an  offer  of  a  loan 
of  money  to  any  amount,  to  prevent  him  using  his  eyes  in  painting, 
or  in  any  other  trying  occupation.  He  would  get  better  and  repay 
her,  but  till  then  he  might  depend  on  her.  .  .  .  She  intended  indeed 
that  this  plan  should  be  a  secret  one  between  them ;  but  no  sooner 
had  we  [Scott  and  Rossetti]  started  on  our  daily  constitutional  than 
he  entrusted  it  to  me  [his  impulsive  nature  was  far  from  good  at 
keeping  secrets]  with  much  effusion  and  gratitude,  at  the  same  time 
protesting  he  would  never  think  of  availing  hinuelf  of  her  kindness. 
This  determination  I  strenuously  encouraged  ;  and  we  heard  no 
more  of  the  matter  until  after  the  old  lady's  death,  when  the 
evidences  to  the  contrary  were  all  too  clear." 

These  "evidences  to  the  contrary"  consisted  of  an  I.O.U., 
or  some  such  document,  which  Rossetti  gave  to  Miss  Losh, 
and  which  was  found  after  her  death,  and  was  destroyed  (in 
my  brother's  interest)  by  a  friendly  hand — I  will  not  say 
whose.     The    kind,   generous    Miss  Losh   died   suddenly   in 


268  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

March  1872,  after  an  operation,  seemingly  quite  successful, 
for  cataract.  That  Mr.  Scott  entertained  a  very  bad  opinion 
of  my  brother  in  connexion  with  this  whole  transaction  I 
know  as  a  fact ;  for,  very  soon  after  Dante's  death,  he  narrated 
the  circumstances  to  me,  in  a  tone  and  in  terms  of  acrimony 
which  startled  me  not  a  little.  But  there  may  be  two  sides  to 
this  affair,  as  to  most  others.  In  my  Diary  for  3  November 
1 868  I  find  the  following  passage  : — 

"  Gabriel  came  back  to-night  from  Penkill.  He  says  his  eyes  are 
decidedly  not  better,  though  on  the  whole  I  think  he  seems  a  little 
less  despondent  about  their  essential  condition.  Miss  Losh,  the 
aunt  [should  be  cousin]  of  Miss  Boyd,  has  been  at  Penkill  all  this 
time.  She  pressed  Gabriel  (whom  she  had  never  known  before) 
most  urgently  to  accept  a  loan  of  ,-£1,000,  to  keep  his  affairs  in  a 
comfortable  condition  in  case  of  his  having  to  intermit  work.  He 
had  much  ado  to  stave  off  this  offer  ;  and  she  has  positively  made 
him  accept  ^"ioo  loan,  for  which  the  cheque  is  to  reach  him 
directly." 

This  is  of  course  my  brother's  own  account  of  the  matter. 
There  is  no  corroboration  of  it  known  to  me.  Perhaps  it 
needs  none.  At  all  events,  to  my  own  mind,  it  is  transparently 
and  absolutely  true.  I  would  not  dispute  that  he  ought,  at 
some  time  before  the  death  of  a  benefactress  who  would  take 
no  denial,  to  have  made  an  opportunity  for  repaying  the 
loan  ;  but  her  death,  as  I  have  said,  was  sudden,  and  between 
November  1868  and  March  1872  there  may  have  been 
communications  passing  between  the  two,  unknown  both  to 
Mr.  Scott  and  to  myself. 

At  Penkill  Rossetti's  sleeping,  though  not  his  eyesight, 
had  improved.  Returning  to  London  on  3  November,1  he 
was  unable  to  paint  until  the  beginning  of  December  ;  a 
tolerable  proof,  were  any  needed,  that  his  notions  about 
failure    of     sight     were    not    mere    fancy.      My    Diary,    6 

1  "The  end  of  September"  as  mentioned  in  Mr.  Scott's  book,  vol.  ii., 
p.  no,  is  decidedly  a  mistake. 


BEGINNINGS   OF   ILL-HEALTH. — PENKILL   CASTLE.      269 

November,  contains  the  following  details,  which  I  may  as  well 
extract  : — 

"  Gabriel  says  his  eyes  are  certainly  rather  worse  than  better,  in 
comparison  with  what  they  were  when  he  left  for  Penkill.  At  the 
same  time,  they  are  by  no  means  now  so  bad  as  his  apprehensions 
some  little  while  ago  had  foreboded.  His  mind  seems  more  quies- 
cent on  the  subject  altogether.  He  says  the  state  of  the  eyes  is  now 
in  detail  this  :— Objects  close  by  he  can  only  see  fairly  well  with 
spectacles.  This  however  is  nothing  new,  and  he  has  not  found  it 
needful  to  adopt  spectacles  of  such  high  power  as  some  medical 
advice  had  suggested.  Objects  a  little  way  off,  or  distant,  he  sees 
completely  enough ;  but  invariably  as  if  with  a  veil  interposed, 
which  he  describes  as  like  a  combination  of  the  curling  of  smoke 
and  the  effervescing  of  champagne.  By  experience  he  now  believes 
that  this  interposed  veil  is  in  fact  the  spectrum  of  the  last  preceding 
object  he  had  been  looking  at ;  for  he  sees  all  spectra  with  extra 
distinctness — would,  for  instance,  after  looking  at  Brown's  profile, 
and  then  at  a  blank  wall,  see  the  profile  there  distinctly  enough 
to  know  it  as  Brown,  or  to  know  the  difference  between  such  a 
spectrum-profile  of  Brown  and  a  like  spectrum-profile  of  me.  The 
uncertainty  of  objects  in  a  room,  to  his  eyes,  is  sufficient  to  make 
him  keep  on  spectacles  continually.  In  painting  for  a  longish  time, 
the  sight  does  not  get  worse  at  the  end  than  the  beginning  ;  but  the 
accumulated  irritation  of  the  weak  sight  makes  him  leave  off." 

About  a  month  after  this  date,  or  at  the  opening  of 
December  1868,  my  brother  was  so  far  improved  as  to  be 
able  to  resume  art-work.  He  began  by  doing  some  crayon- 
heads  of  Mrs.  Morris,  one  of  them  representing  her  as 
Pandora.  The  state  of  his  eyesight  continued  to  give  him 
much  serious  anxiety  from  time  to  time.  I  question  whether 
it  ever  became  quite  so  bad  as  in  the  autumn  of  1868,  unless 
maybe  in  the  spring  of  1870. 

From  this  account  of  the  facts  one  sees  that,  long  before 
the  year  1868  came  to  a  close,  and  even  before  it  began, 
Rossetti  had  two  formidable  foes  to  his  well-being  and  his 
power  of  work  ;  not  to  speak  of  the  surgical  matter,  though 
that  also  was  far  from   bein«;  a  mere  trifle.      If  we  reflect 


270  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

what  it  must  be  to  a  man  of  high-strung  nerves  and  restless 
imagination  to  be  unable  to  sleep  at  night,  and  what  it  must 
be  to  a  painter  to  be  wholly  or  partially  unable  to  paint  by 
day,  we  shall  discern  some  reason  for  sympathizing  with  this 
hard-bested  artist,  and  may  perhaps  be  inclined  to  reject  with 
some  impatience  the  notion,  put  forward  in  one  or  other 
book,  that  there  was  "  nothing  whatever  the  matter  with 
him."  To  suggest  that  a  more  or  less  uneasy  conscience 
was  at  the  bottom  of  it  all  does  not  improve  the  case.  This 
only  adds  a  shadowy  insinuation  of  wrongdoing  to  a  direct 
imputation  of  fractious  or  pusillanimous  fancies. 


XXX. 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  PUBLISHING  POEMS. 

In  August  1869  my  brother  went  back  on  a  visit  to  Penkill, 
first  spending  a  day  or  two  at  Ravenshill  near  Carlisle,  with 
Miss  Losh.  Both  Miss  Boyd  and  Scott  received  him  again 
at  Penkill. 

Mr.  Scott,  in  his  Autobiographical  Notes,  has  given  some 
pages  to  the  two  Scotch  visits,  and  I  must  follow  him  into 
a  few  details.  He  considers  that  it  was  himself  who,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  first  visit,  seconded  as  he  was  by  Miss  Boyd 
and  Miss  Losh,  re-aroused  the  interest  of  Rossetti  in  his 
poetry,  past  and  prospective.  When  Rossetti  was  downcast 
about  the  condition  of  his  eyes  and  other  things,  Scott  said, 
"  Live  for  your  poetry  "  ;  and  this  exhortation,  he  considers, 
had  a  marked  effect.  My  brother,  being  disabled  for  a  while 
from  painting,  would  perchance  of  himself  have  bethought 
him  to  some  purpose  of  his  other  and  not  less  important 
faculty,  that  of  a  poet  ;  but  of  course  I  raise  no  objection  to 
what  Mr.  Scott  here  puts  forward  as  a  statement  of  fact. 
Mr.  Scott  however  writes  as  if  he  were  quite  unaware  of 
what  is  also  a  fact — namely,  that  in  the  spring  of  1868 
Rossetti  had  already  made  an  appearance  in  public  print  as 
a  poet ;  introducing,  into  a  pamphlet-review  of  pictures  of 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   PUBLISHING   POEMS.  27 1 

that  year,  three  sonnets  recently  written  for  paintings  of  his 
own — Lady  Lilith,  Sibylla  Palmifera,  and  Verms  Verticordia. 
The  two  former  have  since  been  entitled  Body's  Beauty  and 
Soul's  Beauty.  This  pamphlet-review  was  the  joint  work 
of  Mr.  Swinburne  and  myself,  and  the  sonnets  were  inserted 
in  Mr.  Swinburne's  section  of  the  publication.  I  can  re- 
member that  the  issuing  of  these  sonnets  was  done  with 
some  definite  idea  of  following  them  up  by  other  public 
appearances  in  verse,  and  therefore  the  conception  of  "  living 
for  his  poetry  "  was  decidedly  in  Rossetti's  mind  before  he 
went  to  Penkill  in  September  1868.  The  publication  in  the 
spring  of  1868  was  a  sort  of  feeler,  leading  on  to  the  printing 
of  several  sonnets  in  the  Fortnightly  Review  for  March  1869. 
In  this  latter  year,  soon  before  starting  for  Penkill,  he 
obtained  a  Printer's  estimate  for  the  printing  of  various 
poems — those  old  compositions  of  which  some  copies  remained 
in  his  hands  after  the  consignment  of  his  chief  MS.  to  his 
wife's  coffin,  and  some  few  others  of  later  date.  At  Penkill 
on  this  second  occasion  he  wrote  several  other  poems — the 
ballad  of  Troy  Town,  part  of  Eden  Bower,  the  beginning 
of  the  long  lyric  of  The  Stream's  Secret,  The  Orchard-pit 
(prose  synopsis  for  poem),  etc.  For  The  Stream's  Secret  he 
appropriated  bodily  the  felicitous  title  which  Scott  had  already 
bestowed  upon  a  sonnet  of  his  own.  Scott  was  very  properly 
annoyed  at  this  ;  but  Rossetti  would  have  it  so,  and  so  it 
was.  The  "  stream "  in  this  poem  is  (as  Mr.  Sharp  says) 
"  the  brown-pooled,  birch-banked  Penwhapple  in  Ayrshire, 
that  gurgles  and  lapses  from  slope  to  slope  till  it  reaches 
Girvan  Water  "  ;  and  some  of  the  verses  were  written  down 
in  a  cave  going  by  the  name  of  a  Covenanter  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  Bennan's  Cave.  It  has  generally  been  stated 
that  The  Stream's  Secret  was  composed  wholly  at  Penkill. 
One  of  the  Family-letters  shows  this  to  be  a  mistake,  as  the 
great  majority  of  the  poem  was  only  produced  in  March  1870, 
at  Scalands,  Sussex. 

Proceeding  with  his  narrative  for  the  year  1869,  Mr.  Scott 
relates,  not  indeed  an  attempt  at  suicide  on  Rossetti's  part, 


272  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

but  what  he  regarded  as  a  manifest  impulse  towards  suicide. 
I  will  give  his  own  words,  which  are  vivid  enough  : — 

"  Miss  Boyd  sometimes  drove  us  about  the  country,  instead  of 
leaving  us  to  take  those  long  walks  I  found  so  trying  in  the  previous 
year.  One  day  she  took  us  to  the  Lady's  Glen,  a  romantic  ravine 
in  which  the  stream  falls  into  a  black  pool  round  which  the  surround- 
ing vertical  rocks  have  been  worn,  by  thousands  of  years  of  rotating 
flood,  into  a  circular  basin,  called,  as  many  such  have  been  desig- 
nated, the  Devil's  Punchbowl.  We  all  descended  to  the  overhanging 
margin  of  the  superincumbent  rock;  but  never  shall  I  forget  the 
expression  of  Gabriel's  face  when  he  bent  over  the  precipice,  peering 
into  the  unfathomed  water  dark  as  ink,  in  which  sundry  waifs  flew 
round  and  round  like  lost  souls  in  hell.  In  no  natural  spectacle  had 
I  ever  known  him  to  take  any  visible  interest ;  the  expression  on  his 
pale  face  did  not  indicate  such  interest ;  it  said,  as  both  Miss  Boyd 
and  I  at  the  same  moment  interpreted  it,  '  One  step  forward,  and  I 
am  free  ! '  But  his  daily  talk  of  suicide  had  not  given  him  courage. 
The  chance  so  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  brought  within  his  grasp 
paralysed  him.  I  advanced  to  him — trembling,  I  confess,  for  I 
could  not  speak.  I  could  not  have  saved  him.  We  were  standing 
on  a  surface  slippery  as  glass  by  the  wet  green  lichen.  Suddenly  he 
turned  round,  and  put  his  hand  in  mine,  an  action  which  showed 
he  was  losing  self-command,  and  that  fear  was  mastering  him. 
When  we  were  safely  away,  we  all  sat  down  together  without  a  word, 
but  with  faces  too  conscious  of  each  other's  thoughts.  .  .  .  The 
feeble-minded  English  law  declares  the  suicide  to  be  of  unsound 
mind,  whereas  he  is  anything  but  that.  It  is  the  privilege  of  man 
alone,  the  only  reasoning  suicidal  creature  in  the  world." 

I  am  not  sure  that  I  ever  heard  this  matter  in  any  way 
mentioned  during  my  brother's  lifetime,  or  until  the  appear- 
ance of  Mr.  Scott's  book  (1892).  The  only  serious  question 
arising  in  connexion  with  it  is  this — Did  Rossetti  really 
contemplate  suicide  ?  This  I  think  quite  possible,  but  by 
no  means  evident.  Dismissing  the  rather  unkind  remarks 
that  certain  talk  "  had  not  given  him  courage,"  and  that 
"  fear  was  mastering  him,"  I  must  observe  that  a  man  who 
was  "  standing  on  a  surface  slippery  as  glass,"  on  the  brink 


PREPARATIONS  FOR   PUBLISHING   POEMS.  273 

of  a  "  precipice,"  above  an  "  unfathomed  water  dark  as  ink," 
might  very  well  put  his  hand  into  that  of  a  friend,  to  be 
assisted  backwards,  without  having  at  the  previous  moment 
projected  self-destruction.  For  the  rest,  Mr.  Scott  seems,  by 
the  last  sentence  in  my  extract,  to  consider  that  suicide  is, 
under  certain  conditions,  a  very  rational  act — an  opinion  in 
which  I  take  leave  to  agree  with  him.  He  is  of  course  wrong 
in  saying  that  the  "  English  law  declares  the  suicide  to  be  of 
unsound  mind "  ;  for  there  is  no  law  whatever  to  this  effect, 
but  only,  in  numerous  instances,  the  opinion  or  the  good- 
nature of  a  Coroner's  Jury. 

Mr.  Scott's  next  anecdote  purports  that  Rossetti  found  in 
a  country  road  a  chaffinch  which  he  picked  up,  and  which 
he  supposed  at  the  time  to  be  the  spirit  of  his  wife.  I  will 
not  give  the  details,  but  am  fully  satisfied  that  they  are  in 
all  essential  respects  perfectly  true.  I  question  however 
whether,  at  one  moment  of  this  odd  transaction,  Rossetti's 
face  wore  a  "  curiously  ferocious  look."  To  the  eye  of  that 
particular  old  friend — a  friend,  in  the  summer  of  1869,  already 
of  twenty-one  years'  standing  * — there  may  have  been  a  look 
so  describable.  For  myself,  I  knew  my  brother's  face  pretty 
well.  It  was  a  fine  face,  with  "  looks  "  often  varying.  Most 
of  those  known  to  me  I  should  call  noble,  and  not  any  of 
them  "  curiously  ferocious."  Much  about  the  date  of  the 
"curiously  ferocious"  incident,  or  on  27  August  1869, 
Rossetti  was  writing  to  Mr.  Shields  about  Scott  in  the 
following  terms  :  "  the  best  of  philosophic  and  poetic  natures, 
a  man  of  the  truest  genius,  and  one  of  my  eldest  companions." 
"  Look  here  upon  this  picture,  and  on  this." 

The  printing  of  my  brother's  poems  was  now  going  on 
actively,  and  he  received  and  revised  proofs  at  Penkill  Castle. 
His  idea  (as  I  had  noted  just  before  he  started  for  the  North) 

1  I  gather,  from  certain  statements  in  Mr.  Scott's  book,  that  this  was 
chiefly  written  in  1877,  and  on  to  1882,  the  year  of  my  brother's  death. 
Scott  himself  died  in  1890.  So  he  was  at  that  time,  when  he  left  his  work 
ready  for  publication,  a  friend  of  forty-two  years'  standing  to  my  brother, 
living  and  dead. 

VOL.   I.  lS 


2^4  DANTE   GABRIEL    ROSSET  TX. 

was  to  have  them  "  printed  for  future  use  in  any  way  he  may 
like  "  ;  or  (to  use  his  own  words  written  from  Penkill),  "  my 
object  is  to  keep  them  by  me  as  stock  for  a  future  volume." 
The  prevalent  notion  appears  to  be  that  he  wanted  to  diffuse 
the  poems  in  a  limited  circle  as  a  privately  printed  volume. 
This  is  but  partially  correct.  He  wanted  to  have  the  poems 
by  him  in  a  convenient  form,  and  therefore  a  printed  form, 
and,  when  he  had  so  got  them,  to  settle  what  might  best  be 
done  with  the  sheets.  But  the  whole  affair  of  the  privately 
printed  copies  soon  became  obsolete. 

For  some  while  past  some  friends  had  urged  Rossetti  to 
recover  the  MS.  buried  in  his  wife's  coffin,  and  thus  to  obtain 
possession,  not  only  of  copies  of  several  poems  completer  than 
the  copies  (made  up  from  scraps  and  reminiscence)  which 
were  already  in  his  hands,  but  also  of  some  compositions 
of  which  he  retained  no  example  whatever.  The  chief  among 
these  was  the  important  production  named  Jenny.  I  cannot 
say  with  precision  who  these  friends  were.  The  facts  seem 
to  mark  Mr.  Henry  Virtue  Tebbs  (John  Seddon's  brother-in- 
law),  who  was  then  a  Proctor  at  Doctors'  Commons,  and  Mr. 
Charles  Augustus  Howell,  as  prominent  among  them.  From 
this  suggestion  Rossetti  hung  back  for  a  while,  but  ultimately 
he  assented.  The  feelings  which  impelled  him  to  hang  back, 
and  those  which  induced  him  to  assent,  will  be  manifest  to 
any  thoughtful  and  feeling  mind.  The  subject,  in  all  its 
bearings,  is  a  painful  one,  and  I  shall  not  dilate  upon  it. 
I  will  only  say  that,  when  my  brother  finally  wrote  to  me 
explaining  what  had  been  done,  I  replied  expressing  the 
opinion — to  which  I  adhere — that  he  had  acted  aright.  The 
disinterment  of  the  MS.  was  effected  towards  10  October  1869. 
My  brother  had  returned  from  Penkill  on  20  September. 
Mr.  Tebbs  managed  some  legal  business ;  Mr.  Howell  was 
present  in  the  cemetery  along  with  the  workmen  at  the 
moment  of  unearthing  the  MS.  Along  with  Howell  was,  I 
suppose,  Dr.  Llewellyn  Williams,  of  Kennington,  who  imme- 
diately afterwards  undertook  the  disinfecting  of  the  papers  ; 
not  any  one  else,  so  far  as  I  recollect.     Though  this  affair  was 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   PUBLISHING1    POEMS.  275 

conducted  in  all  privacy,  some  gossip  about  it  commenced 
pretty  soon,  as  I  observe  by  a  letter,  dated  in  June  1870,  from 
Lord  Aberdare,  the  Home  Secretary,  well  known  to  my 
brother  ever  since  the  first  project  of  the  Llandaff  Triptych, 
from  whom  it  had  been  necessary  to  obtain  a  faculty  for 
opening  the  grave.  Mr.  Hall  Caine's  brief  account  of  the 
matter — no  other  details  seem  to  have  appeared  in  print — is 
as  follows  : — 

"  At  length  preliminaries  were  complete  ;  and  one  night,  seven 
and  a  half  years  after  the  burial,  a  fire  was  built  by  the  side  of  the 
grave,  and  then  the  coffin  was  raised  and  opened.  The  body  is 
described  as  perfect  upon  coming  to  light.  Whilst  this  painful  work 
was  being  done,  the  unhappy  author  of  it  was  sitting,  alone  and 
anxious  and  full  of  self-reproaches,  at  the  house  of  the  friend  who 
had  charge  of  it.  He  was  relieved  and  thankful  when  told  that  all 
was  over." 

So  now  at  last  Rossetti  was  in  possession  of  the  correct 
form  of  his  old  poems ;  and  he  proceeded  to  get  these,  along 
with  some  new  ones,  published  in  the  ordinary  mode.  In 
copying  them  out  he  was  actively  assisted  by  Mr.  Fairfax 
Murray.  He  thought  of  Mr.  John  Murray  as  publisher,  and 
some  one  else  thought  of  Messrs.  Blackwood,  who  indeed  made 
a  direct  proffer  of  their  own  ;  but  neither  of  these  schemes  came 
to  anything,  and  the  publisher  with  whom  an  arrangement 
was  effected  was  Mr.  F.  S.  Ellis,  then  of  King  Street,  Covent 
Garden,  more  generally  known  as  a  leading  bookseller.  Mr. 
Ellis  afterwards  removed  to  the  old-established  book-shop, 
No.  29  New  Bond  Street  (Shelley's  friend  Mr.  Hookham 
had  once  been  there).  Here  Mr.  Ellis  carried  on  business 
with  more  than  one  successive  partner,  and  the  firm  is  now 
represented  by  Messrs.  Ellis  (nephew  of  F.  S.  Ellis)  and 
Elvey,  the  publishers  of  the  present  volumes.  My  brother, 
for  some  few  years  before  1 869,  had  been  a  customer  of  Mr. 
F.  S.  Ellis  for  books,  and  their  relation  had  become  one  of  a 
very  friendly  character  ;  and  no  one  could  have  managed  the 
publishing  business  for  Rossetti  with  more  judicious  zeal,  or 


276  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

in  a  more  thoroughly  liberal  and  confiding  spirit,  than  Mr. 
Ellis — a  man  of  very  good  literary  taste  and  acquirements, 
as  proved  of  late  years  by  various  performances  of  his  own. 

My  brother  was  in  some  respects  a  singular  compound  of 
self-reliance  and  self-mistrust.  He  relied  on  himself  so  far 
as  the  working-impulse  and  the  actual  work  were  concerned. 
He  mistrusted  himself  with  regard  to  the  effect  of  his  work 
upon  other  minds.  No  man  was  prouder,  or  more  resolved 
to  have  his  way,  and  make  his  way  as  well.  Few  men  were 
more  entirely  free  from  vanity — although  indeed,  in  his 
latest  years,  there  was  more  of  a  fusion  between  vanity  and 
pride  than  there  had  been  in  all  his  boyhood,  youth,  and 
mature  manhood.  Owing  to  pride  present,  and  vanity  absent, 
he  was  the  most  natural  of  men.  You  could  take  him,  or 
you  could  leave  him  alone  ;  but,  if  you  took  him,  you  had 
to  take  him  such  as  he  intrinsically  was,  without  any  attempt 
on  his  part  at  adjusting  the  mutual  relationship  by  concession, 
compromise,  half-measures,  or  a  veneering  of  attributes  not 
his  own.  With  most  people  he  was  easy,  open,  and  hearty ; 
with  many,  tolerant ;  with  others,  intolerant ;  with  all,  he  was 
himself.  Intellectually  he  was  so  frank  that  it  might  almost 
be  said  he  blurted  himself  out.  As  to  poetry,  he  was  perfectly 
conscious  of  having  a  special  faculty,  and  of  having  done  some 
good  work.  In  fact,  he  considered  (and  I  think  justly)  that  his 
executive  attainment  in  verse  was  riper  and  surer  than  in 
painting.  To  most  of  us  it  might  appear  that  a  man  of  this 
description  would  care  next  to  nought  for  anything  but  the 
work  produced  ;  would  abide  in  his  own  knowledge  of  where 
he  had  succeeded  to  the  full,  and  where  he  had  faltered  ; 
and  would  view  with  solid  or  stolid  indifference  the  opinions 
entertained  on  the  subject  by  other  people.  Yet  this  was 
not  the  case.  It  was  here  that  his  self-mistrust  as  to  the 
effect  of  his  work  upon  other  minds  came  in.  That  he  had 
cordial  admirers  he  knew  very  well  ;  but  he  thought  he  might 
also  have  cordial  detractors.  As  soon  as  he  had  decided  to 
publish,  he  became  solicitous  that  persons  well-affected  to 
the  book  should  give  expression  to  their  views  in  print.     I 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   PUBLISHING   POEMS.  277 

have  no  sort  of  recollection  of  the  exact  steps  which  were 
taken  ;  but  am  sure  that  something  was  done,  with  his  cogni- 
zance, so  that  certain  editors  might  entrust  the  book  to 
certain  writers  for  reviewing,  or  certain  writers  might  bespeak 
it  of  certain  editors.  My  diary  for  1 1  October  1 869  contains 
the  following  passage  : — 

"  Gabriel  called,  and  talked  about  his  intended  publication  of 
poems  in  the  Spring.  He  thinks  it  desirable  to  make  sure  of  the 
reviewers  as  far  as  possible,  and  thinks  he  can  count  upon  handsome 
notices  in  various  reviews.  His  plan  therefore  would  be  to  send  the 
book  first  to  two  or  three  papers  that  he  can  count  on,  and  that  are 
of  leading  importance ;  wait  for  the  appearance  of  the  critiques  in 
these  ;  and  only  then  send  the  book  to  other  papers,  which  it  would 
reach,  having  already  a  considerable  prestige  about  it.  This  is 
skilful  scheming ;  but  for  my  own  part  (as  I  told  Gabriel)  I  would 
not  diplomatize  at  all,  but  just  leave  the  book  to  take  its  chance,  and 
feel  pretty  confident  of  the  result  into  the  bargain." 

I  have  been  treating  this  matter  with  great  plainness,  and 

openly  showing  that,   in   my    opinion,    my  brother's    feeling 

and  his  line  of  action,  in  relation   to  public  criticism,  were 

other  than    they  should  have  been.      I  am  therefore  all  the 

better  entitled  to  confute  over-statements  on  the  same  subject 

which   appear   elsewhere.      Mr.    Bell    Scott   (who   has   gone 

further  than  other  writers  in  this  direction,  and  has  served 

as  authority  for  some  repetitions  of  the  allegation)  expresses 

himself  thus  : — 

I 

"  He  to  the  last  moment  would  work  the  oracle,  and  get  all  his 

friends  to  prepare  laudatory  critical  articles  to  fill  all  the  leading 

journals." 

No  reflective  person  will  believe  this  averment  about  "all 
his  friends  "  and  "  all  the  leading  journals."  It  bears  on  the 
very  face  of  it  exaggeration,  and  exaggeration  with  a  motive 
the  reverse  of  friendly.  But  I  will  go  further,  and  express 
my  serious  doubt  whether  Dante  Rossetti  did  "  get "  any  one 
of  his  friends  to  prepare  a  critical  article,  laudatory  or  other- 


278  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

wise.  He  had  several  ardent  admirers  who  were  also  friends 
or  acquaintances  ;  and  some  of  these  were  connected  with 
"  leading  journals,"  or  could  easily,  in  virtue  of  their  own 
eminence,  obtain  admission  for  articles  of  their  writing1  into 
such  papers.  The  names  of  five  who  are  still  living  occur 
to  me  at  once — Messrs.  Swinburne,  Morris,  Skelton,  Colvin, 
and  Knight.  I  will  not  insult  any  one  of  these  gentlemen 
by  raising  an  express  question  whether  he  was  "  got "  by 
Rossetti  to  write  an  article — in  any  sense  which  can,  in  this 
connexion,  be  reasonably  attached  to  that  word  "  got."  My 
firm  belief  is  that  most  or  all  of  them  volunteered — and 
volunteered,  not  just  because  they  liked  Rossetti  personally 
(Mr.  Skelton  had  only  a  slight  knowledge  of  him),  but  because 
their  critical  judgment  avouched  his  poems  to  be  good.  And 
I  know  as  a  fact  that  Mr.  Swinburne's  splendid  outburst  of 
generous  yet  sincere  eulogy  contained  at  first  some  passages 
which,  while  laudatory  of  my  brother,  might  be  considered 
unwelcome  to  some  other  writers,  and  that  it  was  my  brother 
who,  by  not  a  little  pressure,  "  got "  him  to  retrench  these. 
It  is  not  all  critics  who  think,  with  Mr.  Scott,  that  the  mass 
of  Rossetti's  earlier  poems,  except  Jenny  and  Sister  Helen, 
are  "  comparatively  boyish  and  worthless." 

Mr.  Scott,  in  a  very  friendly  tone  as  regards  myself,  next 
proceeds  to  quote  some  words  of  mine,  which  (as  he  puts  it) 
I  "  said,"  but  I  fancy  that  in  fact  I  wrote  them,  in  the  year 
1872.  I  abide  by  them  to  the  letter;  but  I  do  not  repeat 
them  here,  as  I  have  no  wish  to  thrust  myself  constantly 
forward,  and  what  I  said  or  wrote  to  Scott  appears,  more 
precisely  defined,  in  the  note  already  given  from  my  Diary. 
Then,  after  speaking  of  Rossetti's  sensitiveness  to  adverse 
criticism  when  ultimately  it  came,  Mr.  Scott  says  : — 

"  He  had  felt  that  such  would  be  the  effect  of  adverse  strictures, 
and  feared  them ;  else  why  the  reluctance  to  publish,  the  desire  to 
issue  his  privately-printed  volume  when  we  had  prevailed  upon  him 
to  take  up  poetry  again,  and  why  the  disagreeable  expenditure  of 
energy  in  working  the  oracle,  to  furnish  all  the  ordinary  channels  of 
criticism  with  articles  ready-made  under  his  own  eye  ?  " 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   PUBLISHING    POEMS.  279 

These  questions  seem  a  little  captious.  We  have  already 
seen  that  "  the  reluctance  to  publish  "  arose  from  the  fact 
that,  prior  to  the  exhuming  of  the  MS.,  Rossetti  was  not  in 
possession  of  some  poems  at  all,  nor  of  the  final  and  best 
form  of  other  poems,  and  that,  immediately  after  the  exhum- 
ing, he  set  about  publishing  ;  also  that  "  his  privately-printed 
volume  "  was  prepared  with  a  view  quite  as  much  to  eventual 
publication  as  to  merely  private  issue.  We  have  also  seen 
how  far  it  was  "  we  " — i.e.,  Mr.  Scott,  Miss  Boyd,  and  Miss 
Losh — who  "  had  prevailed  upon  him  to  take  up  poetry 
again."  The  phrase  "  articles  ready-made  wider  his  own  eye  " 
can  only  be  termed  erroneous  (unless  we  were  to  substitute  a 
stronger  expression).  An  article  ready-made  under  his  own 
eye  must  mean  an  article  which  Rossetti  regulated,  controlled 
and  more  or  less  dictated.  Whether  those  articles  really  were 
so  concocted  is  a  question  which  some  eminent  living  men 
could  answer  if  they  deigned  to  do  so. 

I  will  sum  up  by  saying  :  The  articles  were  written  by 
competent  men  (some  of  them  about  the  most  competent  in 
the  country)  who  considered  the  critical  opinions  expressed 
in  them  to  be  true ;  Rossetti  was  not  part  and  parcel  in  the 
writing  of  them  ;  they  were  published  under  the  ordinary  con- 
ditions governing  critical  reviews.  But  it  would  have  been  all 
the  better  if  Rossetti  had  not  cared  and  had  not  known  who  was 
writing  or  not  writing,  or  who  was  publishing  or  not  publishing. 

This  matter  of  the  critiques  which  were  printed  belongs 
properly  to  a  date  after  the  poems  themselves  had  been 
published  ;  but  I  have  dealt  with  it  here  because  some  steps 
with  regard  to  the  critiques  had  been  taken  in  anticipation, 
and  it  seemed  very  requisite  to  discuss  whether  those  steps 
were  underhand  or  aboveboard.  I  now  go  on  to  some  par- 
ticulars about  Rossetti's  health  and  his  friends. 

In  speaking  of  my  brother's  first  visit  to  Penkill  Castle  in 
the  autumn  of  1868,  Mr.  Scott  observes  : — 

"  He  never  got  up  till  near  mid-day  ;  my  difficulty  every  evening 
being  to  leave  him  after  we  had  emptied  endless  tumblers  of  the 
wine  of  the  country  in  the  shape  of  whisky-toddy," 


28o  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

"  Endless  tumblers  "  is,  as  the  newspaper  men  say,  "  a  large 
order  "  ;  but,  giving  a  reasonable  interpretation  to  the  term, 
I  suppose  Mr.  Scott's  statement  to  be  correct.  The  fact  is 
that  my  brother  was,  by  nature  and  habit,  one  of  the  most 
temperate  of  mortals.  He  from  the  first  disliked  beer,  and 
drank  it  hardly  at  all  ;  spirits  he  drank  very  little,  and  I 
dare  say  a  month  or  two  would  often  pass  without  his  so  much 
as  touching  them  ;  wine  he  liked  well,  and  would  drink  in 
moderation  on  and  off,  as  the  occasion  happened.  He  had 
not  a  bad  head  for  drinking,  and  could  dispose  of  a  fair 
ordinary  quantity  of  liquor  without  its  affecting  him  in  any 
degree  whatever.  I  know  that  at  Penkill  he  found  some 
whisky  which  he  relished  ;  he  would  speak  of  it  under  the 
name  of  the  local  purveyor,  McKechnie.  I  think  it  probable 
that  from  this  time  forward  a  certain  increase  in  the  readiness 
to  drink  was  perceptible  in  him.  In  1869,  after  returning  to 
London,  troubled  by  profuse  perspirations  and  by  nervous 
symptoms — as  well  as  by  weakness  of  sight,  which  again 
interrupted  his  painting  at  times — he  consulted  Sir  William 
Jenner,  who  prohibited  spirits  and  opiates  altogether,  and 
ordered  bedtime  not  later  than  midnight,  and  a  country-life 
with  but  little  work  for  a  half-year  to  come.  Rossetti  wrote  to 
Mr.  Shields  as  to  this  on  24  December,  saying  that  doctors 

"  speak  most  warningly  as  to  hours,  exercise,  and  abstinence  from 
spirits — for  which,  Heaven  knows,  I  have  no  taste,  but  had,  for  a 
year  and  a  half  past,  fallen  into  the  constant  habit  of  resorting  to 
them  at  night  to  secure  sleep.  I  have  now  relinquished  them 
entirely." 

In  June  1869  Rossetti  lost  a  very  friendly  acquaintance, 
always  glad  to  do  him  a  good  turn — Mr.  Michael  Halliday, 
who  was  a  Clerk  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and  also  a  painter ; 
at  first  an  amateur  painter,  but  after  a  while  almost  pro- 
fessional. He  died  immediately  after  attending  the  funeral 
of  a  brother-in-law.  He  was  a  well-dressed  small  man,  very 
manly  in  his  ways — with  high  shoulders  not  much  unlike 
a  hump.     Soon  before  this,  December  1868,  my  brother  had 


PREPARATIONS   FOR   PUBLISHING   POEMS.  28 1 

made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Nettleship,  well  known  now  as 
a  painter  of  wild  animals.  He  was  then  a  young  man,  but 
rather  beyond  the  usual  age  for  starting  in  the  pictorial 
career ;  a  great  enthusiast  for  ideal  and  abstract  forms  of  art, 
such  as  that  of  William  Blake,  and  a  hardy  inventor  in  the 
like  line.  In  October  1869  Dr.  Thomas  Gordon  Hake 
appeared  in  my  brother's  studio.  In  Section  X.  I  have 
made  a  brief  reference  to  a  romance  published  anonymously 
by  this  gentleman,  named  Vates,  much  beloved  by  Rossetti 
towards  1844.  Its  full  title  is  Vates,  or  The  Philosophy  of 
Madness  ;  or,  in  a  later  issue,  Valdarno,  or  The  Ordeal  of  Art- 
worship.  It  appeared  as  a  serial  publication  of  large  size, 
with  strange  wild  etchings  by  Thomas  Landseer,  very 
stimulating  to  a  boy's  imagination.  Vates  seethed  in  my 
brother's  head,  and  towards  i860  he  took  some  steps  for 
ferreting  out  the  author ;  learning  that  his  name  was  Hake, 
and  writing  to  him,  but  without  any  prompt  result,  as  the 
Doctor  was  then  abroad.  At  last  however  they  met,  and 
Rossetti  found  his  visitor  to  be  a  poet  as  well  as  romancist. 
This  was  in  October  1869  (Dr.  Hake,  in  his  Memoirs  of 
Eighty  Years,  has  inadvertently  given  the  date  as  1871).  The 
Doctor  was  then  sixty  years  of  age — a  man  of  more  than 
common  height,  lithe  and  straight,  with  very  self-possessed 
gentle  manners,  and  clear  deliberate  utterance.  My  brother 
took  to  him  at  once,  and  cultivated  his  company  ;  and  soon 
he  had  reason  to  know  him  for  a  real  friend.  Rossetti  found 
Dr.  Hake's  poems  singular,  but  very  interesting  and  to  a  large 
extent  excellent.  Only  a  few  specimens  had  been  published 
at  the  date  of  the  meeting  in  1869. 

Dr.  Hake  had  attained  a  great  age  when— quite  recently, 
in  January  1895 — his  nTe  came  to  a  close.  His  Memoirs 
contain  several  details  about  Rossetti — often  eulogistic,  but 
not  monotonously  nor  uncandidly  so.  I  will  extract  a  few 
sentences — proper  to  this  opening  period  of  their  acquaint- 
ance : — 

"  When  I  saw  Rossetti  in  his  prime,  a  healthy  man,  he  was  the 
noblest  of  men,  and  had  a  heart  so  good  that  I  have  never  known  a 


282  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

better — seldom  its  equal.  .  .  .  He  had  a  very  just  mind.  When  an 
author  was  discussed,  whatever  might  be  said  against  him,  he  would 
insist  on  his  merits  being  remembered.  From  rivalship  and  its 
jealousies  he  was  absolutely  free,  and  his  hospitality  was  without 
limit.  Above  all,  he  was  ready  at  all  times  to  serve  a  friend,  and  to 
exert  his  influence  to  that  end." 

Another  person  who  saw  a  great  deal  of  Rossetti,  beginning 
towards  1869,  was  Franz  Hueffer,  Ph.D.,  a  German  from 
Mtinster  who  talked  excellent  English — a  man  of  learning 
and  great  talent,  equally  accomplished  at  the  pianoforte  and  at 
Schopenhauer.  He  was  a  prominent  leader  in  the  Wagnerian 
movement,  and  became  musical  critic  of  the  Times.  In  1872 
he  married  Madox  Brown's  younger  daughter,  Cathy.  He 
edited  the  Tauchnitz  issue  of  Rossetti's  poetical  writings, 
and  died  rather  suddenly  in  January  1889,  aged  only  forty- 
three  ;  a  severe  loss  to  some  musical  and  literary  causes, 
and  to  all  persons  who  were  closely  connected  with  him. 


XXXI. 

ART-WORK   FROM    1869     TO    SUMMER    1872. 

My  brother's  principal  works  of  art  of  this  period  were  the 
oil-pictures  of  Pandora,  Mariana,  Dante's  Dream,  Water- 
willow,  Beata  Beatrix  (duplicate),  and  Veronica  Veronese ; 
the  water-colour  of  Michael  Scott ;  and  the  designs  of  Penelope, 
The  Death  of  Lady  MacbetJi,  Silence,  La  Donna  del  la  Fiamma, 
and  Dr.  Hake.  Of  some  of  these  works  I  have  already 
spoken  briefly  in  Section  XXVII.,  in  reference  to  the  question 
of  my  brother's  types  of  feminine  beauty.  A  few  further 
observations  will  now  be  apposite. 

The  Mariana  represents  Shakespear's  Mariana  in  the 
Moated  Grange,  with  the  Page  singing  to  her  the  song 
"  Take  oh  take  those  lips  away."  It  was  originally  schemed 
as  simply  a  portrait  of  Mrs.  Morris,  with  an  idea  of  music 
annexed  to  it.  This  was  to  have  been  supplied  by  intro- 
ducing   a    nightingale,    to    which    the    lady   was    listening. 


ART-WORK   FROM    1 869  TO   SUMMER    1 872.  283 

Gradually  the  conception  of  the  picture  was  modified  or 
expanded,  and  it  assumed  its  present  shape,  the  head  of  the 
Page  being  painted  from  William  Graham,  the  son  of  the 
purchaser.  Dante's  Dream,  now  in  the  Walker  Art  Gallery 
of  Liverpool,  was  also  executed  for  Mr.  Graham,  and  is  much 
the  largest  painting  that  Rossetti  ever  produced.  Its  price 
was  £i,S75-  Mr.  Graham  only  wanted  a  picture  of  the  size 
of  6  feet  by  3I,  his  house  in  Grosvenor  Place  not  containing 
available  spaces  adapted  to  works  of  a  really  great  size  ;  but 
Rossetti  was  bent  upon  doing  a  magnum  opus,  and  he  set-to 
upon  a  canvas  fully  10  feet  by  7.  As  in  so  many  another 
case,  he  had  his  way,  the  purchaser  being  truly  friendly  and 
admiring,  and,  spite  of  not  a  little  well-grounded  demur, 
submissive.  My  brother  had  an  abortive  idea  about  this 
picture,  which  is  worth  recording  in  his  own  terms,  as  con- 
tained in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Scott : — 

"  I  should  like  to  try  and  lithograph  myself  that  big  picture  of 
mine.  If  one  could  do  something  of  this  sort  with  one's  inventions 
(much  the  best  quality  I  have  as  a  painter),  one  might  really  get 
one's  brain  into  print  before  one  died,  like  Albert  Durer,  and 
moreover  be  freed  perhaps  from  slavery  to  'patrons'  while  one 
lived." 

The  inconvenience  which  Mr.  Graham  had  foreseen  ensued 
as  of  necessity.  The  picture,  begun  in  1869  and  finished 
towards  the  close  of  1871,  could  only  be  hung  on  a  staircase. 
Afterwards  it  was  transferred,  throi.gh  the  painter's  own 
hands,  from  Mr.  Graham  to  Mr.  Valpy.  The  latter  gentle- 
man after  a  while  quitted  London,  settling  in  Bath.  Rossetti, 
who  could  not  bear  the  notion  that  this  important  example 
of  his  art  should  be  hidden  away  in  a  country-town,  took 
it  back  ;  and,  after  a  rather  tedious  delay,  succeeded  in 
disposing  of  it  to  the  Corporation  of  Liverpool  in  1881.  In 
anticipation  of  this  sale  he  again,  with  his  constant  desire 
to  do  the  very  best  for  his  art  and  his  purchasers,  worked 
upon  the  picture.  In  some  respects  he  certainly  improved 
it ;  but  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  he  made  a  serious  mistake 


284  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

in  altering  the  colour  of  Beatrice's  hair,  from  the  very  dark 
tint  proper  to  the  sitter,  Mrs.  Morris,  to  a  golden  hue,  which 
is  besides  not  wholly  exempt  from  a  pinkish'  tendency.  Far 
be  it  from  me  however  to  undervalue,  in  essential  respects, 
a  picture  which  may  be  fairly,  and  not  by  a  brother  alone, 
called  great  as  well  as  large.  The  Queen's  Limner  in 
Scotland,  Sir  Joseph  Noel  Paton,  is  probably  quite  as 
competent  to  estimate  a  painting  as  the  majority  of  press- 
critics.  His  opinion  of  Dante's  Dream  (which  he  saw  in 
Rossetti's  studio  in  1881  shortly  before  its  being  dispatched 
to  Liverpool)  is  expressed  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  William 
Sharp,  which  contains,  among  other  enthusiastic  utterances, 
the  following  :  "  Fifty  years  hence  it  will  be  named  among 
the  half-dozen  supreme  pictures  of  the  world."  This  praise 
may  be  somewhat  excessive ;  it  is  at  any  rate  delightfully 
generous. 

The  duplicate  of  Beata  Beatrix  was  undertaken  for  Mr. 
Graham,  who  delighted  in  the  original  to  a  singular  degree. 
Rossetti  felt  the  greatest  reluctance  for  this  effort — chiefly, 
as  may  well  be  surmised,  on  account  of  the  painful  asso- 
ciations of  the  work  with  his  dead  wife.  However,  he 
yielded,  and  proceeded  with  the  duplicate  at  intervals,  highly 
dissatisfied  with  it  in  all  respects.  It  was  made  to  differ 
from  the  first  version  by  the  addition  of  a  predella,  was 
completed  late  in  1872,  and  was  at  last  viewed  by  its  author 
with  less  disfavour  than  at  most  stages  of  its  progress. 
Veronica  Veronese  (an  imaginary  lady,  touching  a  violin  to 
the  note  lilted  by  a  canary)  embodies,  to  my  mind,  some  of 
his  more  abstract  ideas  as  to  the  relation  between  Nature 
and  Art.  It  might  also  seem  that  he  put  the  subject  into 
this  form  after  he  had  transmuted  the  old  nightingale-subject 
into  a  Mariana.  The  Veronica  was  sent  to  a  London  ex- 
hibition in  1894,  and  was  then  received  with  loud  acclaim  as 
a  work  of  exceptional  beauty — which  indeed  it  is. 

As  to  the  water-colour  of  Michael  Scott,  I  cannot  recollect 
ever  seeing  any  such  coloured  work  ;  but  I  believe  there  was 
one,  the  property  either  of  Mr.  Leyland  or  of  Mr.  Frederick 


THE   POEMS,    1870— CHLORAL.  285 

Craven  of  Manchester,  who  owned  several  of  Rossetti's  pictures. 
I  used  to  be  very  familiar  with  a  cartoon-design  named  The 
Wooing  of  Michael  Scott,  which  my  brother  intended  to  paint. 
It  was  one  of  his  most  fantastic,  and  in  a  sense  one  of  his 
most  arbitrary,  inventions. 

The  designs  of  Penelope  and  of  Silence  rank  high  among 
the  works  in  tinted  crayons.  Both  the  Silence  and  the  Donna 
delta  Fiannna  are  from  Mrs.  Morris.  The  Portrait  of  Dr. 
Hake,  done  in  the  same  medium,  may  count  as  the  best  male 
portrait  ever  produced  by  Rossetti,  if  one  excepts — and  I 
incline  to  do  so — a  head  of  Mr.  Theodore  Watts,  executed  in 
1874.  It  has  been  lately  stated — and,  as  it  happens,  by  Mr. 
Watts — that  the  expression  given  to  Dr.  Hake  is  too  heavy. 
It  never  struck  me  to  that  effect,  but  there  has  been  a  lapse 
of  several  years  since  I  saw  the  portrait. 

In  January  1872  Rossetti  first  came  into  correspondence 
with.  Mr.  W.  A.  Turner  of  Manchester,  who  later  on  became 
the  purchaser  of  some  of  his  pictures — A  Vision  of  Fiammetta, 
a  Proserpine,  etc.  Their  relations  were  always  very  cordial. 
The  Vision  of  Fiammetta  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  a 
head  named  Fiammetta  which  Rossetti  had  ere  now  sold  to 
Mr.  Gambart.  This  was  in  fact  the  head  of  "  Kate  the  Queen," 
excised  from  the  large  canvas  on  which  a  picture  from 
Browning  had  been  begun  towards   1850. 


XXXII. 

THE  POEMS,  1870—  CHLORAL— KELMSCOTT MANOR-HOUSE. 

TOWARDS  the  close  of  1869  and  beginning  of  1870,  Rossetti's 
attention  was  chiefly  concentrated  upon  his  forthcoming  poetic 
volume — the  one  which  is  known  as  Poems,  1870.  This  date, 
1870,  should  be  borne  in  mind  by  any  amateurs  of  Rossetti's 
work;  for  the  volume  named  Poems  of  1 881,  though  partly 
a  re-issue  of  the  book  of  1870,  is  very  far  from  being  identical 
with   it.     At   a   recent   date,    1894,    I    found   that   even   the 


286  DANTE   GABRtEL   ROSSETTl. 

authorities  of  the  British  Museum  Library  had  allowed  this 
fact  to  slip  their  observation,  and  were  not  in  possession  of 
any  copy  of  the  Poems,  1881,  having  assumed  it  to  be  a  mere 
reprint  of  the  volume  of  1870  ;  and  thus  one  of  the  author's 
longest  compositions,  the  (unfinished)  Bride's  Prelude,  did 
not  then  exist  in  that  Library  in  any  form  printed  during  his 
lifetime — not  to  speak  of  other  and  far  from  unimportant 
alterations. 

My  brother's  health  continued  to  be  not  good,  and  his  eye- 
sight bad;  and  in  the  spring  of  1870  he  went  down  to  an 
estate  belonging  to  his  kind  friend  of  old  standing,  Mrs. 
Bodichon,  who  placed  it  quite  at  his  disposal  for  a  while — 
Scalands,  near  Robertsbridge,  Sussex.  Here,  after  a  period 
of  much  depression,  he  at  last  revived  considerably  ;  and, 
when  he  came  back  to  town  in  May,  I  found  him  much  thinner 
than  he  had  been  for  years  (which  was  a  decided  advantage), 
and  also  much  better.  By  March  1871  he  was  easier,  as  to 
both  health  and  eyes,  than  for  some  years  preceding. 

At  Scalands  Rossetti  was  joined  by  an  American  acquaint- 
ance of  his,  a  friend  more  especially  of  my  own — Mr.  William 
J.  Stillman,  who  not  very  long  afterwards  married  Miss 
Spartali.  Mr.  Stillman  was  originally  a  landscape-painter, 
then  a  literary  man  and  journalist  ;  and  lately  he  had  been 
American  Consul  in  Crete,  during  the  vigorous  insurrection 
of  that  island  against  Turkish  oppression.  He  openly  sided 
with  the  Cretans  ;  and,  after  suffering  there  many  troubles 
and  a  great  domestic  calamity,  settled  in  London  in  the 
autumn  of  1869.  He  has  now,  for  several  years  past,  been 
domiciled  in  Rome,  holding  a  very  important  post  in  jour- 
nalism. Few  men  could  have  been  better  adapted  than  Mr. 
Stillman — -none  could  have  been  more  willing — to  solace 
Rossetti  in  his  harasses  from  insomnia  and  other  troubles  ; 
but  it  is  a  fact  that  a  remedy  worse  than  the  disease  was  the 
result  of  his  friendly  ministrations.  Chloral,  as  a  soporific, 
was  then  a  novelty.  In  England  little  was  known  of  it,  and 
not  much  elsewhere.  It  was  supposed  to  produce  no  ill 
effects  worth  taking  into   consideration.     Mr.   Stillman  had 


WiE   POEMS,    1870— CHLORAL.  287 

heard   of  its   potency    in  procuring   sleep — possibly  he  had 
himself  tested  this — and  he  introduced  the  drug  to  Rossetti's 
attention.     My   brother  was   one   of  the  men  least  fitted  to 
try  any  such  experiment  with  impunity.     With  him  it  was 
a  case  of  any  expedient  and  any  risk  to  escape  a  present 
evil  ;  and  sleeplessness  was  no  doubt,  to  such  a  temperament 
as  his,  an  evil  of  prime  magnitude.     He  began,  I  understand, 
with  nightly  doses  of  chloral  of  10  grains.      In   course   of 
time  it  got  to  180  grains  !     So  at  least  Rossetti  supposed  ; 
but  I  have  sound  reason  for  thinking,  with  much  thankful- 
ness, that   in    this   he   was    greatly   mistaken.      His  doctor, 
Mr.  Marshall — knowing  with  whom  he  had  to  deal — would 
not,   save    in    some   instances   of    crisis,   prohibit   the    drug 
altogether,  but  he  took  care  that  the  chemists  should  dilute 
it  to  a  degree   of  which   my  brother  was   kept  severely  in 
ignorance  ;    and,   when   he    fancied  that   his   dose   was    180 
grains,  I  dare  say  it  was  barely  half  of  this,  or  maybe  barely 
a  third.     Even  after  the  chloral  entered  his  house  elaborate 
and  clandestine  precautions  of  further  dilution  were  taken 
by  Mr.  Dunn,  Mr.  George  Hake,  and  others.      It  is  rather 
surprising  to  me  that  my  brother  never  found  this  out  ;  for, 
with  all  his  extreme  carelessness  in  many  matters  of  daily 
routine,  he  was  observant,  and  grew  to  be  suspicious — the 
outcome,  I    believe,  to  a  very  large   extent,  of  the    chloral 
itself.      Notwithstanding    all    this  dilution,    the   dosing   with 
chloral  remained   not  less   monstrous   than   the   effects  of  it 
were  deplorable.      "  I   am   told "  (says  Mr.  Edmund  Gosse) 
"  that  no  case  has  been  recorded  in  the  annals  of  medicine 
in  which  one  patient  has  taken  so  much,  or  even  half  so 
much,  chloral  as  Rossetti  took."     I  am  fain  to  hope  that  this 
estimate  applies,  not  to  the  real  doses  taken,  but  to  the  nominal 
doses  as  supposed  by  Rossetti  himself.     "  Deep  melancholy 
and  weakness  of  will "  are  set  down  as  two  of  the  detrimental 
results  of  chloral.     Too  surely  my  brother   did    become   at 
times  deeply   melancholy,  and  his  will — naturally  so  strong, 
prompt,  and  indeed  overbearing — did  get  enfeebled — I  may 
say,  chronically  enfeebled  ;  though  there  were  many  intervals 


288  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTt. 

and  many  contingencies  when  it  reasserted  itself  in  its  olden 
vigour. 

Even  the  chloral  was  not  the  whole  of  the  harm  done. 
My  brother  found  it  nauseous,  and  after  a  while  not  so  effica- 
cious as  he  wanted.  Therefore,  strictly  as  he  had  been  warned 
by  the  best  medical  advice  against  any  tampering  with  spirits, 
he  took  to  drams  of  neat  whisky  in  immediate  sequence  to 
=v  the  chloral  ;  not,  I  think — unless  in  the  most  exceptional 
instances — at  any  other  period  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  I 
regret  to  say  that  I  have  more  than  once  seen  him  take  his 
dose  of  chloral,  and  then  forthwith  toss  down  his  throat  a 
brimming  wineglass  of  the  neat  whisky,  which  was  gone 
almost  in  a  gulp.  Remonstrance  was  imperative,  and  also 
futile.  I  have  often  surmised  that  this  misuse  of  spirits  was 
at  least  as  noxious  to  him  as  the  chloral  itself.  But,  while 
he  was  at  Scalands,  and  for  some  months  ensuing,  things  had 
no  doubt  not  come  to  this  pass. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  evil  they  wrought  in  him, 
my  brother  had  good  reason  for  believing  in  the  chloral, 
supplemented  by  the  alcohol,  as  an  opiate.  Yet  he  would 
not  admit  that  they  afforded  him  real  natural  sleep.  Many 
a  time  have  I  heard  him  declare  that  the  so-called  sleep  could 
only  be  called  a  trance.  It  gave  unconsciousness,  without 
adequate  repose  and  refreshment.  Still,  the  drug  counteracted 
insomnia  ;  and  who  shall  say  what  his  condition  would  have 
been  if  insomnia  had  persisted  with  him  from  week  to  week 
and  from  month  to  month,  totally  uncounteracted  ?  How  long 
would  his  brain — how  long  would  his  life — have  continued  to 
struggle  on  ? 

The  volume  of  Po'ems  was  published  on  25  April  1870,  or 
thereabouts.  Some  advance  copies  had  been  sent  to  leading 
reviews,  so  that  there  might  be  no  delay  in  an  expression  of 
opinion.  The  book  was  a  great  success.  The  first  issue 
consisted  of  a  thousand  copies  ;  of  these,  eight  hundred  were 
sold  by  3  May,  and  the  remainder  about  the  20th.  Two 
hundred  and  fifty  out  of  the  thousand  went  to  America.  The 
profit  to  the  author  was  to  be  a  quarter  of  the  published  price, 


THE   POEMS,    1 870— CHLORAL.  289 

paid  as  soon  as  the  copies  were  put  on  sale,  without  waiting 
for  actual  purchase  ;  and  by  the  end  of  July  Rossetti  had  thus 
realized  ^450.  This  rate  of  sale  could  not,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  last  very  long,  and  two  events  brought  it  to  an  early 
conclusion — although  later  issues  of  the  book  (there  were  six 
in  all)  continued  going  off  for  some  while  later.  Dickens  died 
on  9  June,  and  the  sale  declined.  France  declared  war  on 
Prussia  in  the  middle  of  the  summer,  and  the  sale  almost 
ceased.  These  occurrences  seemed  to  be,  and  probably  were, 
in  the  nature  of  cause  and  effect.  Such  are  the  odd  and 
extraneous  chances  affecting  a  book  about  Dante  at  Verona, 
The  Blessed  Damozel,  and  The  House  of  Life.  A  Tauchnitz 
edition  of  the  volume  came  out  in  1873,  with  a  preface  by 
Hueffer. 

The  chorus  of  praise  for  the  Poems  was  eager,  loud,  and 
prolonged  ;  and  certainly  any  steps  which  Rossetti  may  have 
taken  for  "  working  the  oracle "  (to  recur  to  Mr.  Scott's 
favourite  phrase)  were  not  wholly  responsible  for  this — far 
from  it.  Mr.  Swinburne  led  the  van  with  what  may  well  be 
called  a  paean  in  the  Fortnightly  Review.  Now  Mr.  Swinburne 
is  tolerably  well  known  for  three  qualities  :  1,  supreme  com- 
petence for  expressing  an  opinion  on  poetic  art  in  general, 
and  on  particular  poems  ;  2,  gorgeous  munificence  of  praise 
where  he  sees  it  to  be  due ;  and  3,  rigorous  silence  as  to  what 
he  deems  below  the  requisite  standard,  or  on  occasion  resolute 
denunciation  of  it.  I  will  extract  two  passages  from  his 
verdict  upon  Rossetti : — 

"  It  [Rossetti's  poetry]  has  the  fullest  fervour  and  fluency  of 
impulse,  and  the  impulse  is  always  towards  harmony  and  perfection. 
It  has  the  inimitable  note  of  instinct,  and  the  instinct  is  always  high 
and  right.  What  he  would  do  is  always  what  a  poet  should,  and 
what  he  would  do  is  always  done." 

And  next  upon  some  matters  of  detail : — 

"  The  influence  which  plainly  has  passed  over  the  writer's  mind, 
attracting  it  as  by  a  charm  of  sound  or  vision,  by  spell  of  colour  or 
of  dream,  towards  the  Christian  forms  and  images,  is  in  the  main 

VOL.  I.  19 


29O  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

an  influence  from  the  mythologic  side  of  the  creed.  Alone  among 
the  higher  artists  of  his  age,  Mr.  Rossetti  has  felt  and  given  the 
mere  physical  charm  of  Christianity  with  no  admixture  of  doctrine 
or  of  doubt.  .  .  .  [And  then  as  to  poems  in  the  old-ballad  form, 
such  as  Rossetti's  Stratton  Water]  On  this  ground  Mr.  Morris  has 
a  firmer  tread  than  the  great  artist  by  the  light  of  whose  genius  and 
kindly  guidance  he  put  forth  the  firstfruits  of  his  work,  as  I  did 
afterwards." 

Mr.  Colvin  spoke  of  "  personal  passion "  as  a  leading 
element  in  Rossetti's  poetry.  Mr.  Buxton  Forman  held  him 
to  be  remarkable  for  transfusing  Italian  blood  into  a  newly 
opened  vein  of  English  verse.  I  could  extend  my  list  of 
writers  and  their  encomiums  very  largely,  were  I  minded  to 
do  so  ;  but  will  content  myself  with  observing  that  no  critique 
afforded  the  author  more  marked  satisfaction  than  one  which, 
after  a  lengthened  interval,  appeared  in  an  American  paper, 
The  CatJwlic  World.  This  naturally  dealt  more  especially 
with  Rossetti's  poems  in  their  relation  to  Christian  or  Catholic 
ideals,  and  was  regarded  by  my  brother  as  singularly  dis- 
cerning, on  the  part  of  a  total  stranger.  One  or  other  name 
was  suggested  to  him  as  that  of  the  probable  author,  but  he 
did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  any  positive  knowledge  as  to 
this  point.     The  article  is  now  ascribed  to  Mr.  J.  J.  Earle. 

Among  those  who  wrote  letters  to  him  in  a  laudatory  strain 
were  Tennyson,  Sir  Henry  Taylor,  Dr.  Marston  (who  also 
published  a  review),  Mrs.  Lewes,  Browning,  George  Meredith, 
Sir  Theodore  Martin,  Mr.  Frank  A.  Marshall,  Munro,  Charles 
Wells  (of  Joseph  and  his  Brethren),  Professor  Charles  Eliot 
Norton,  Miss  Spartali,  and  Mrs.  Gilchrist. 

In  those  early  days  of  publication  there  was,  I  believe,  only 
one  review  of  a  more  or  less  distinctly  unfavourable  kind — 
that  in  Blackwood's  Magazine.  I  forgot  what  was  said  in 
it,  or  possibly  never  knew.  I  will  not  suggest  that  the 
publishers  or  conductors  of  this  magazine  were  sore  because 
(as  previously  mentioned)  Rossetti  had  not  closed  with  their 
offer  of  producing  the  volume  ;  but  one  may  safely  surmise 
that,  had  that  offer  been  accepted,  the  tone  of  the  critique 


THE   POEMS,    1870 — CHLORAL.  29 1 

would  have  been  different.  My  brother  was  not  so  absolutely- 
thin-skinned  about  reviews  as  some  people  have  supposed 
and  proclaimed — although  it  is  too  true  that  in  one  instance, 
to  be  hereafter  commented  on,  he  took  the  matter  to  heart  in 
a  most  exaggerated  and  unreasonable  degree.  When  the 
Blackwood  critique  appeared,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Shields 
(August  1870)  that  he  was  surprised  "to  find  such  things 
producing  a  much  more  transient  and  momentary  impression 
of  unpleasantness  than  he  would  have  expected — indeed  he 
might  almost  say  none  at  all."  Of  course,  in  the  real  essence 
of  the  matter,  he  was  always  and  in  all  relations  quite 
indifferent  to  criticism,  knowing  well  for  himself  what  he 
could  do,  and  the  worth  of  it,  and  what  he  could  not  do. 
But  this  did  not  exempt  him  from  being  sensitive  on  the 
score  of  personal  attack,  or  in  view  of  the  effect  which  adverse 
notices  might  produce  upon  the  minds  of  others. 

The  great  success  attending  the  Poems  induced  my  brother 
to  think  at  once  of  re-publishing  his  Early  Italian  Poets.  This 
scheme  was  in  his  head  as  soon  as  May  1870,  but  there-publi- 
cation did  not  actually  ensue  till  1873,  when  the  book  came 
out,  through  Mr.  Ellis,  with  a  change  in  the  order  of  its  con- 
tents, and  an  altered  name,  Dante  and  his  Circle.  He  preferred 
now  to  give  the  first  prominence  to  Alighieri,  and  to  relegate 
the  preceding  poets  to  a  secondary  position  in  the  volume. 
Mr.  Ellis  issued  the  book  at  his  own  cost,  and  halved  with 
Rossetti  such  profits  as  accrued. 

Before  the  end  of  May  1871  Mr.  William  Morris  for  himself 
and  his  family,,  and  Rossetti  on  his  own  behalf,  were  intending 
to  rent  a  house  in  the  country — Kelmscott  Manor-house  in 
Oxfordshire.  The  nearest  town  was  Lechlade  in  Gloucester- 
shire, famous  through  an  early  poem  by  Shelley.  The  nearest 
having  tolerable  resources  in  the  way  of  provisions  etc.  was 
Farringdon  in  Berkshire.  The  rent  was  only  £j^.  Here 
Rossetti  stayed  for  many  weeks,  beginning  towards  the  middle 
of  July  1871.  There  are  in  the  Family-letters  several  details 
about  this  picturesque  and  pleasurable  old  house,  and  my 
brother's  vivid  enjoyment  of  it ;  and  I  need  not  enlarge  upon 


292  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

the  subject  here.     The  building  appears  painted  in  the  back- 
ground of  his  small  picture  entitled  Water-willow.    Dr.  Hake  j 
gives  a  few  descriptive  particulars  : — 

"  It  is  an  old  place,  with  its  seven,  or  rather  twelve,  gables — such 
a  sample  of  antiquity  as  you  don't  meet  with  often.  The  windows 
are  square  casements  with  stone  mullions,  and  the  walls  very  thick. 
The  garden  has  its  yew-tree  hedges,  cut  into  fantastic  shapes.  The 
river  is  flooded  like  a  lake,  so  that  old  Thames  don't  know  itself 
again.  It  is  a  most  primitive  village  that  surrounds  the  place — a 
few  scattered  freestone  habitations,  some  ivy-covered.  There  are  no 
neighbours  to  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  the  subject." 

In  my  brother's  letters  to  Scott  there  are  amusing  references 
to  a  storied  tapestry,  one  of  the  old-world  house-properties  at 
Kelmscott.     I  combine  passages  from  two  different  letters  : — 

"  The  subject  of  the  tapestries  is  the  history  of  Samson,  which 
is  carried  through  with  that  uncompromising  uncomfortableness 
peculiar  to  this  class  of  art-manufacture.  Indeed  I  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  a  tapestried  room  should  always  be  much 
dimmer  than  this  one.  These  things,  constantly  obtruded  on  one 
in  a  bright  light,  become  a  persecution.  ...  I  am  getting  used  a 
little  now  to  the  tapestry ;  though  still  the  questions — Why  a 
Philistine  leader  should  have  a  panther's  tail,  or  Delilah  a  spike 
sticking  out  of  her  head,  or  what  Samson,  standing  over  a  heap  of 
slain,  has  done  with  the  ass's  jawbone — will  obtrude  themselves  at 
times  between  more  abstract  speculations." 

I  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  Mr.  Sidney  Colvin 
and  Dr.  Westland  Marston  in  connexion  with  my  brother's 
Poems.  He  saw  about  this  time  a  good  deal  of  both  these 
gentlemen,  and  also  of  Mr.  Marston's  family,  including  his 
blind  poet-son  Philip  Bourke  Marstorr;  whose  natural  gift 
Rossetti  accounted  genuine,  and  his  attainment  in  the  poetic 
art,  considering  his  mournful  privation,' a  matter  for  fervent 
praise,  and  even  astonishment.  Another  friendly  acquaintance 
was  Mr.  Gosse,  who  first  met  Rossetti  towards  Christmas 
1870;  and  in  1871  the  great  Russian  novelist  Turgenieff 
was  introduced  to  the  Cheyne  Walk  house  by  Mr.  William 


THE   FLESHLY  SCHOOL   OF   POETRY.  293 

Ralston,  and  he  dined  there  once  or  twice,  preserving  a  very- 
pleasant  recollection  of  his  visits.  Mr.  Gosse's  opinion  of  my 
brother  has  been  expressed  in  print  in  the  handsomest 
terms  : — 

"  He  was  the  most  prompt  in  suggestion,  the  most  regal  in  giving, 
the  most  sympathetic  in  response,  of  the  men  I  have  known  or 
seen ;  and  this  without  a  single  touch  of  the  prophetic  manner,  the 
air  of  such  professional  seers  as  Coleridge  or  Carlyle." 

Still  more  impulsive  and  indeed  quaint  in  his  enthusiasm 
was  Philip  Marston,  who  in  1873  wrote  thus  in  a  private  letter 
to  his  youthful  friend  Oliver  Madox  Brown  : — 

"  What  a  supreme  man  is  Rossetti  !  Why  is  he  not  some  great 
exiled  king,  that  we  might  give  our  lives  in  trying  to  restore  him  to 
his  kingdom  ?  " 

At  Kelmscott  Rossetti  wrote  a  large  amount  of  new  poetry  : 
Cloud  Confines  (which  he  termed  "  my  very  best  thing "), 
Dozvn  Stream  (first  called  The  River's  Record,  which  was 
written  in  a  punt  on  the  Thames),  the  beginning  of  Soothsay 
(originally  entitled  Commandments),  some  thirty  fresh  sonnets 
for  The  House  of  Life,  Sunset  Wings,  and  Rose  Mary,  which 
was  finished  towards  13  September  1871.  He  began  by 
writing  a  prose  synopsis  of  this  poem,  which  did  not  as  yet 
contain  the  Beryl-songs.  These  had  better  not  have  been  added, 
and  so  he  himself  thought  eventually.  The  Cloud  Confines, 
and  also  the  old  prose  story  of  Hand  and  Soul,  were  published 
in  the  Fortnightly  Review.  There  was  also  a  grotesque  ballad 
about  Mr.  Robert  Buchanan,  consequent  upon  the  review- 
article  to  be  next  mentioned.     This  slumbers  in  manuscript. 


XXXIII. 
THE   FLESHLY  SCHOOL   OF  POETRY. 

In    the    Contemporary  Revieiv  for    October    1871    an    article 
appeared   entitled  The  Fleshly  School  of  Poetry — Mr.   D.    G. 


294  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

Rossetti — and  signed  Thomas  Maitland,  For  the  purpose  of 
this  article  Thomas  Maitland  was  non-existent,  and  the  real 
author  was  the  verse- writer — or  let  us  say  the  poet — Robert 
Buchanan.  Some  skirmishing  in  the  press  rapidly  ensued, 
not  free  from  confusion  and  self-conflicting.  Its  main  upshot 
was  this — that  Mr.  Buchanan  had  intended  to  write  an 
anonymous  attack  upon  Rossetti,  and  the  publisher  of  the 
Contemporary  Review  turned  it  into  a  pseudonymous  attack. 
One  poet  who  assails  another  anonymously,  in  a  magazine 
where  anonymity  is  in  no  degree  the  rule,  does  not  occupy 
a  very  graceful  position  ;  and  the  publisher  who  pseudony- 
mizes  his  anonymous  and  aggressive  contributor  occupies,  I 
apprehend,  an  ungraceful  position.  I  have  very  positive 
grounds  for  affirming  (and  I  will  produce  them  if  wanted) 
that  Mr.  Buchanan  was  from  the  first  strongly  urged,  and  this 
by  a  person  who  had  every  right  to  intervene,  not  to  be 
anonymous,  and  a  fortiori  not  pseudonymous.  I  shall  not 
repeat — what  was  said  in  some  papers  at  the  time — that 
there  was  plain  mendacity  in  some  of  the  explanations  offered. 
But  it  seems  to  behove  me  to  say  a  little  about  the  antecedents 
of  The  Fleshly  School  of  Poetry — Mr.  D.  G.  Rossetti,  and  to 
take  to  myself  any  blame  which  may  properly  or  plausibly 
belong  to  me  ;  for  I  have  more  than  once  been  told  by  friends 
that  the  animus  against  my  brother,  apparent  in  the  article  of 
Mr.  Robert-Thomas  Buchanan-Maitland,  should  be  regarded 
as  a  vicarious  expression  of  resentment  at  something  which  I 
myself  had  written.     Thus  then. 

Mr.  Swinburne's  volume  of  Poems  and  Ballads  having 
excited  a  fluster  in  1866,  a  burlesque  poem  appeared  in  the 
Spectator  for  1 5  September  1 866,  named  The  Session  of  the 
Poets.  It  was  anonymous  ;  but  rumour — since  then  confirmed 
by  himself — ascribed  it  to  Mr.  Buchanan.  It  contained  the 
following  lines  : — 

"  Up  jumped,  with  his  neck  stretching  out  like  a  gander, 

Master  Swinburne,  and  squealed,  glaring  out  through  his  hair, 
'  All  virtue  is  bosh  !  Hallelujah  for  Landor  ! 
I  disbelieve  wholly  in  everything  !     There  ! ' 


THE  FLESHLY   SCHOOL  OF   POETRY.  295 

"  With  language  so  awful  he  dared  then  to  treat  'em, 

Miss  Ingelow  fainted  in  Tennyson's  arms  ; 
Poor  Arnold  rushed  out,  crying  '  Saecl'  inficetum  ! ' 

And  great  bards  and  small  bards  were  full  of  alarms  : 
Till  Tennyson,  flaming  and  red  as  a  gipsy, 

Struck  his  fist  on  the  table,  and  uttered  a  shout : 
'  To  the  door  with  the  boy  !     Call  a  cab !  he  is  tipsy  ! ' 

And  they  carried  the  naughty  young  gentleman  out. 

"  Then  '  Ah  ! '  cried  the  Chairman,  '  this  teaches  me  knowledge  : 
The  future  shall  find  me  more  wise,  by  the  Powers  ! 
This  comes  of  assigning  to  younkers  from  college 
Too  early  a  place  in  such  meetings  as  ours.' " 

About  the  same  time  I  was  writing  for  an  American  quarterly 
a  review  of  Mr.  Swinburne's  poems.  It  was  eventually 
published,  not  in  America,  but  as  a  brochure  in  England, 
under  the  name  of  Swinburne 's  Poems  and  Ballads,  a 
Criticism,  by  William  Michael  Rossetti,  1866.  Bearing  in 
mind  Mr.  Buchanan's — as  I  thought  it — gratuitous  and  in- 
solent attack  upon  a  poet  already  so  illustrious  as  Mr. 
Swinburne,  and  entertaining  the  opinion  that  much  more 
than  commensurate  laudation  had  been  bestowed  by  reviews 
upon  the  volume  (or  volumes)  of  verse  which  Mr.  Buchanan 
had  up  to  that  time  published,  I  opened  my  Criticism  with 
the  following  sentence  : — 

"  The  advent  of  a  new  great  poet  is  sure  to  cause  a  commotion  of 
one  kind  or  another ;  and  it  would  be  hard  were  this  otherwise  in 
times  like  ours,  when  the  advent  of  even  so  poor  and  pretentious 
a  poetaster  as  a  Robert  Buchanan  stirs  storms  in  teapots." 

When  my  first  edition  of  Shelley  appeared  in  1870  it  was 
severely  condemned  in  the  Athenceum,  in  a  criticism  which  I 
was  informed  was  written  by  Mr.  Buchanan.  Whether  this  is 
correct  I  cannot  affirm.  At  any  rate,  Mr.  Buchanan  considered 
that  to  be  "  the  worst  edition  of  Shelley  which  has  ever  seen 
the  light,"  for  so  he  has  told  us  in  The  Fleshly  School  of 
Poetry,  adding  one  or  two  other  partially  relevant  "  digs  "  at 
me.     Somewhat   later   in    1870  than   the   Athenmcm   article 


296  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTl. 

my  brother's  volume  of  Poems  came  out.  It  remained  un- 
criticized  by  Mr.  Buchanan  (so  far  as  I  am  aware)  until 
October  1871,  when  the  article  in  the  Contemporary  Review 
appeared. 

This  article  was  (to  use  no  other  expression)  severe  against 
Rossetti.  It  was  afterwards  considerably  enlarged,  and  its 
severity,  direct  and  implied,  was  increased,  and  it  was  reissued 
as  a  pamphlet- volume  of  about  100  pages — The  Fleshly  School 
of  Poetry,  and  other  Phenomena  of  the  Day,  by  Robert 
Buchanan  (Strahan  &  Co.,  1872).  I  will  give  some  extracts, 
showing  what  opinion  Mr.  Buchanan  entertained  of  Rossetti's 
performances.  These  extracts  come  direct  from  the  pamphlet, 
and  are  (practically  speaking)  verbatim ;  but  it  should  be 
understood  that  the  "  Thomas  Maitland  "  article  was  in  full 
general  conformity  with  them. 

The  Poems  (we  are  told)  exhibit  morbid  deviation  from 
healthy  forms  of  life.  Nothing  is  virile,  nothing  tender, 
nothing  completely  sane.  There  is  thorough  nastiness  in 
many  pieces.  A  sickening  desire  is  evinced  to  reproduce  the 
sensual  mood.  Rossetti  has  not  given  us  one  rounded  and 
noteworthy  piece  of  art.  He  is  fleshly  all  over,  from  the  roots 
of  his  hair  to  the  tips  of  his  toes.  There  is  bad  blood  in  all 
the  poems,  and  breadth  of  poetic  interest  in  none.  Bad 
rhymes  become  the  rule,  and  not  the  exception.  The  burden 
of  Sister  Helen  is  repeated  with  little  or  no  alteration  through 
thirty-four  verses  (as  a  fact,  it  is  repeated  with  invariable  and 
essential  alteration,  and  Mr.  Buchanan  misquotes  its  close 
"between  Hell  and  Heaven,"  changing  this  into  "between 
Heaven  and  Hell,"  and  so  spoiling  the  cadence).  Sister 
Helen  and  Eden  Bower  are  affected  rubbish.  The  House  of 
Life  is  a  very  hotbed  of  nasty  phrases.  Sonnets  11  to  20  are 
one  profuse  sweat  of  animalism.  Sonnets  29,  30,  and  31,  are 
very,  very  silly.1  The  Last  Confession  positively  reeks  of  morbid 

1  The  thirteen  Sonnets  thus  characterized  are  the  following :  The 
Birth-Bo?id  (Have  you  not  noted  in  some  family) ;  A  Day  of  Love 
(Those  envied  places  which  do  know  her  well) ;  Love  Sweetness  (Sweet 
dimness  of  her  loosened  hair's  downfall) ;  Love's  Baubles  (I  stood  where 


THE  FLESHLY  SCHOOL  OF   POETRY.  297 

lust.  In  Rossetti's  poetry  there  is  a  veritably  stupendous 
preponderance  of  sensuality  and  sickly  animalism.  He  and 
Mr.  Swinburne  merely  echo  what  is  vile.  I  see  in  Rossetti 
no  gleam  of  Nature,  not  a  sign  of  humanity.  [On  a  passage 
from  The  Portrait]  Was  ever  writing  so  formally  slovenly 
and  laboriously  limp?  [Then,  in  general]  Treatment,  down 
to  the  tiniest  detail,  frivolous,  absurd,  and  reckless.  As 
shapeless  and  undigested  as  chaos  itself. 

On  such  abuse  as  this,  wholesale  and  retail,  I  will  not 
express  any  view  of  my  own,  nor  solicit  the  verdict  of  the 
reader.  About  twenty-four  years  have  elapsed  since  Mr. 
Buchanan  wrote.  If  public  opinion  in  that  interval  has  ratified, 
or  gone  near  to  ratifying,  his  dicta,  I  remain  under  a  mistake. 
If  public  opinion  at  the  present  date  should  avouch  that  the 
man  who  could  thus  express  himself  must  have  had  in  view 
some  object  extraneous  to  the  fair  and  moderate  expression 
of  a  candid  conviction,  I  should  be  far  from  astonished. 

According  to  my  recollection  of  the  facts — of  which  I  had 
adequate  personal  knowledge  at  the  time — my  brother  was 
but  little  troubled,  and  not  downcast  at  all,  by  the  article 
such  as  it  appeared  in  the  Contemporary  Review.  He  had  all 
along  expected  that  some  one  or  other  would  make  a  point 
of  assailing  him.  He  knew  himself  to  be  above  such  an 
assault  as  was  now  delivered,  and  felt  moreover  that  the  fact 
of  the  pseudonym,  and  the  ambiguities  which  had  accompanied 
it,  gave  him  a  considerable  advantage  as  a  defendant.  Mr. 
Scott — with  an  inaccuracy  as  to  date  which  is  very  habitual 
to  him — relates  how,  "as  midsummer  1872  was  drawing  on," 
he  gave  a  dinner-party  which  Rossetti   attended  ;  and  how 

Love  in  brimming  armfuls  bore) ;  Winged  Hours  (Each  hour  until  we 
meet  is  as  a  bird) ;  Life  in  Love  (Not  in  thy  body  is  thy  life  at  all)  ;  The 
Love-Moon  (When  that  dead  face  bowered  in  the  furthest  years) ;  The 
Morrow's  Message  (Thou  Ghost,  I  said,  and  is  thy  name  To-day  ?) ;  Sleep- 
less Dreams  (Girt  in  dark  growths  yet  glimmering  with  one  star)  ;  Secret 
Parting  (Because  our  talk  was  of  the  cloud-control)  ;  Lnclusiveness  (The 
changing  guests  each  in  a  different  mood)  ;  Known  in  Vain  (As  two 
whose  love,  first  foolish,  widening  scope) ;  The  Landmark  (Was  that  the 
landmark  ?  what,  the  foolish  well). 


298  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

the  latter  shouted  out  the  name  of  Robert  Buchanan,  whom 
"  he  had  discovered  to  be  the  writer  of  the  article,"  and  how 
"  from  this  time  he  occupied  himself  in  composing  a  long 
reply."  It  is  certain  (as  one  of  the  Family-letters  shows)  that 
my  brother  had  been  informed  about  Mr.  Buchanan  towards 
the  middle  of  October  1871,  and  that  soon  after  that  time  he 
undertook  a  reply  for  publication.  Mr.  Scott's  date  is  there- 
fore quite  erroneous.  To  his  other  statements  I  raise  no 
demur,  but  he  seems  to  think  the  whole  incident  more  note- 
worthy than  I  can.  My  brother  was  impulsive  and  outspoken  ; 
and,  being  (it  is  to  be  supposed)  among  friends  well  known 
to  him,  and  known  to  be  on  his  side  of  any  such  controversy, 
he  may  very  likely — and  very  harmlessly — have  been  a  trifle 
more  vociferous  than  those  drawing-room  and  dining-room 
manners  for  which  Dickens  gave  the  formula  of  "  prunes  and 
prisms  "  would  dictate. 

It  is  certainly  true  that  he  set-to  at  writing  a  reply  to  Mr. 
Buchanan — a  fact  which  is  in  no  wise  inconsistent  with  what 
I  have  just  been  saying  about  his  comparative  coolness 
under  the  Contemporary  attack.  He  was  vehemently,  not  to 
say  virulently,  assailed  ;  and  this  more  on  the  ground  of 
imputed  moral  obliquity  than  of  poetic  or  literary  short- 
comings. To  be  ridiculed  was  what  he  did  not  like  ;  to  be 
vilified  as  writing  from  impure  motives  and  as  an  incentive 
to  public  impurity  was  what  he  disliked  extremely.  It 
would  have  been  much  better — and  I  told  him  so  at  the 
time — to  take  no  part  in  the  controversy,  and  to  allow  the 
anonymo-pseudonymous  attack  to  die  out  of  itself,  leaving 
perhaps  little  general  memory  of  its  unsavoury  existence, 
and  little  warning  to  any  one  except  the  parties  directly 
concerned  ;  who  would  probably  have  found  out  that  a  "  poet " 
who  abuses  another  poet  under  the  shield  of  anonymity  had 
better  not  be  loaded,  by  himself  or  another,  with  the  thicker 
shield  of  pseudonymity.  However,  my  brother  did  not  adopt 
my  well-meant  advice.  He  wrote  a  pamphlet,  and  sent  the 
more  serious  parts  of  it  to  the  AtJienceum,  where  these  were 
printed  with  his  name  appended,  and   under  his   own  title, 


THE   FLESHLY  SCHOOL  OF   POETkY.  299 

The  Stealthy  School  of  Criticism.1  To  me  The  Stealthy  School 
of  Criticism  appears  a  very  sound  and  telling  piece  of  self- 
vindication.  It  rectifies  some  positive  mis-statements  con- 
tained in  Mr.  Buchanan's  article,  and  sets  the  whole  question 
in  a  much  more  correct  light  than  the  latter  had  succeeded 
in  casting  upon  it,  or  perhaps  had  been  minded  to  supply. 
The  pamphlet  itself,  including  this  extracted  portion,  was  put 
into  print,  with  a  view  to  its  being  published  by  Mr.  Ellis  ; 
but  on  consideration  it  was  held  to  be  such  as  might  lay  the 
author  or  the  publisher  open  to  an  action  at  law— possibly  on 
the  ground,  "  the  greater  the  truth,  the  greater  the  libel  " — 
and  it  was  withheld,  and  ultimately  destroyed.  I  heard  it  at 
the  time ;  but  long  ago  I  had  quite  forgotten  its  treatment 
and  details — which  were  assuredly  not  scurrilous,  but  I  dare 
say  sarcastic  and  stinging  enough,  for  my  brother  was  the 
reverse  of  a  bad  hand  at  that  sort  of  thing  when  he  chose 
to  take  it  up.  He  was  displeased,  indignant,  and  perhaps 
incensed,  and  disposed  to  "  give  as  good  as  he  got "  ;  but  still, 
as  I  have  said,  not  seriously  wounded  nor  deeply  mortified,  so 
far  as  the  Contemporary  article  went.  I  can  even  remember 
that  he  was  frankly  amused  at  some  remarks  by  Mr.  Buchanan 
upon  certain  rhymes  in  his  volume — such  as  "  wet "  rhyming 
with  "  Haymarket "  ;  and  he  thought  that  Mr.  Buchanan 
had  made  a  very  neat  travestie  of  them  as  follows  : — 

"  When  winds  do  roar  and  rains  do  pour, 
Hard  is  the  life  of  the  sailor : 
He  scarcely,  as  he  reels,  can  tell 
The  side-lights  from  the  binnacle  : 
He  looketh  on  the  wild  water,"  etc. 

And  at  a  later  date,  hearing  that  the  anonymously  published 
poem,  St.  Abe  and  his  Seven  Wives,  was  the  work  of  Mr. 
Buchanan,  he  told  me  that  he  had  found  it  to  be  a  production 
of  considerable  force  and  spirit.  He  was  indeed  (and  Dr.  Hake 
has  told  us  so),  though  sufficiently  downright  in  denouncing 
works  which  he  disrelished,  whether  in  literature  or  in  fine 

1  Naturally,  it  is  included  in  Rossetti's  Collected  Works. 


300  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

art,  always  inclined  to  say  a  good  word  for  such  points  in 
them  as  he  thought  deserving  of  this. 

Mr.  Buchanan,  having  made  one  envenomed  attack  upon 
Rossetti,  was  not  to  be  appeased  until  he  had  made  another 
much  more  envenomed  ;  and  in  the  spring  of  1872  he  issued  (as 
I  have  said)  his  pamphlet-volume,  being  a  greatly  extended, 
more  systematic,  and  more  denunciatory  version  of  the 
original  review.  He  here  more  definitely  identified  Rossetti, 
as  well  as  some  other  poets,  with  a  supposed  movement  for 
the  propagation  of  whatsoever  is  most  foul  in  vice,  and  most 
disgusting  in  vicious  display.  Possibly  this  production,  like 
its  predecessor,  is  only  very  partially  remembered  by  the 
living  generation  of  readers.  The  sooner  it  is  totally  for- 
gotten, the  better  for  all  concerned,  and  more  especially  for 
Mr.  Buchanan  himself. 

I  can  say  this  without  any  unfair  bias  towards  my  brother's 
side.  It  must  likewise  be  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  for 
whose  feelings  in  the  matter  it  is  not  my  business  to  entertain 
or  express  any  especial  concern.  At  the  same  time  I  willingly 
acknowledge  that,  when  at  last  he  did  retract,  he  retracted 
straightforwardly,  and  in  a  spirit  to  which  my  brother  might 
perhaps  have  openly  responded,  had  he  then  been  less  near 
his  grave.  Mr.  Buchanan,  in  1881,  dedicated  to  Rossetti,  as 
to  "  An  Old  Enemy,"  his  romance  entitled  God  and  the  Man  ; 
and,  besides  some  other  retractation  (especially  a  phrase  in  TJie 
Academy,  1  July  1882,  "  Mr.  Rossetti,  I  freely  admit  now, 
never  was  a  Fleshly  Poet  at  all "),  he  addressed  to  Mr.  Hall 
Caine,  soon  after  Rossetti's  death,  a  letter  containing  the 
following  phrases.  I  only  extract  some  expressions  relating 
to  Rossetti :  others  which  show  persistent  rancour  against 
other  people  are  best  left  in  oblivion  : — 

"  While  admitting  freely  that  my  article  in  the  Contemporary 
Review  was  unjust  to  Rossetti's  claims  as  a  poet,  I  have  ever  held, 
and  still  hold,  that  it  contained  nothing  to  warrant  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  received  by  the  poet  and  his  circle  [the  poet's  only 
overt  act,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  to  write  that  very  moderate 
self-vindication  called  The  Stealthy  School  of  Criticism}.     Well,  my 


THE   FLESHLY   SCHOOL   OF   POETRY.  3OI 

protest  was  received  in  a  way  which  turned  irritation  into  wrath, 
wrath  into  violence.  I  was  unjust,  as  I  have  said  ;  most  unjust  when 
I  impugned  the  purity,  and  misconceived  the  passion,  of  writings  too 
hurriedly  read,  and  reviewed  currente  calamo  [but  several  months 
had  elapsed  between  the  publication  of  the  review-article  and  that 
of  the  pamphlet].  I  make  full  admission  of  Rossetti's  claims  to  the 
purest  kind  of  literary  renown ;  and,  if  I  were  to  criticize  his  poems 
now,  I  would  write  very  differently." 

There  is  another  phrase  which  seems  to  go  near  to  admit- 
ting that  Mr.  Buchanan — in  1871,  and  also  in  1872 — abused 
Rossetti  just  because  other  critics  had  praised  him  :— 

"At  the  time  it  [the  review-article]  was  written,  the  newspapers 
were  full  of  panegyric.  Mine  was  a  mere  drop  of  gall  in  an  ocean  of 
eau  sucree." 

But  even  this  is  not  quite  apposite  to  the  facts.  The 
"  newspapers "  had  had  their  say  about  Rossetti's  Poems 
towards  April  and  May  1870,  whereas  Mr.  Buchanan's 
pseudonymous  article  appeared  in  October   1871. 

Let  me  sum  up  briefly  the  chief  stages  in  this  miserable, 
and  in  some  aspects  disgraceful,  affair.  1.  Mr.  Buchanan, 
whether  anonymously  or  pseudonymously — being  a  poet, 
veritable  or  reputed — attacked  another  poet,  a  year  and  a 
half  after  the  works  of  the  latter  had  been  received  with 
general  and  high  applause.  2.  He  attacked  him  on  grounds 
partly  literary,  but  more  prominently  moral.  3.  After  he 
had  had  every  opportunity  for  reflection,  he  repeated  the 
attack  in  a  greatly  aggravated  form.  4.  At  a  later  date  he 
knew  that  the  author  in  question  was  not  a  bad  poet,  nor  a 
poet  with  an  immoral  purpose.  The  question  naturally  arises 
— If  he  knew  this  in  or  before  1881,  why  did  he  know  or 
suppose  the  exact  contrary  in  1871  and  1872?  Here  is  a 
question  to  which  no  answer  (within  my  cognizance)  has 
ever  been  given  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  and  it  is  one  to  which 
some  readers  may  risk  their  own  reply.  That  is  their  affair. 
If  Mr.  Robert  Buchanan  concludes  that  Mr.  Thomas  Maitland 
told  an  untruth,  it  is  not  for  me  to  say  him  nay. 


302  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Not  long  after  Rossetti's  death  an  article  named  The  Art 
of  Rossetti  was  written  by  Mr.  Harry  Quilter,  and  it  was 
published  in  that  same  Contemporary  Review  which  had 
reviled  the  man  during  his  lifetime.  It  is  laudatory,  but 
very  far  from  being  exclusively  so.  Some  of  the  observations 
in  this  article  appear  to  me  to  be  among  the  best  and  most 
acute  which  have  been  spoken  on  that  question  of  "  fleshli- 
ness,"  and  I  will  give  them  here.  I  will  only  premise  that, 
while  I  regard  it  as  a  gross  calumny  to  say  that  Rossetti  was 
in  any  marked  sense  an  adherent  of  any  "  Fleshly  School  of 
Poetry  "  (if  such  there  was),  I  do  not  contest  that  there  are 
some  things  in  his  writings  to  which  a  puritan  or  a  purist 
may,  from  his  own  point  of  view,  legitimately  take  exception. 
The  real  question  is  not  whether  Rossetti,  as  a  man  or  as 
a  poet,  was  "  fleshly,"  but  whether  certain  subjects,  and 
certain  modes  of  treatment  and  forms  of  expression,  are  to 
be  admitted  into  poetry  as  a  wide  domain,  or  excluded  from 
it  as  a  narrow  domain.  To  this  question  perhaps  the  simplest 
and  the  most  sufficient  answer  is  that  all  or  nearly  all  the 
greatest  poets,  in  all  countries  and  ages  of  the  world,  have 
admitted  them  ;  and  I  will  go  a  step  further,  and  (without 
presuming  to  rank  Dante  Rossetti  with  those  greatest  poets) 
will  say  that  very  few  of  them  have  admitted  so  little  as  he 
did  of  those  subjects,  modes  of  treatment,  and  forms  of 
expression.     I  now  cite  from  Mr.  Quilter  : — 

"  It  was  said  once,  by  a  writer  anxious  to  make  out  a  case  against 
the  Prseraphaelite  school  of  modern  poetry,  that  one  of  the  chief 
characteristics  of  Rossetti's  verse  was  its  sensuality,  and  certain 
quotations  were  given  to  prove  this.  Time  has  effectually  disposed 
of  that  charge,  and  the  misrepresentations  on  which  it  was  founded 
have  been  adequately  confuted ;  but  it  has  hardly  been  sufficiently 
noticed  that  the  real  ground  of  the  accusation  is  due  to  the  fact  of 
the  poet-painter  being  unable  to  dissever  his  pictorial  from  his 
poetic  faculty.  He  habitually  thought  (if  such  an  expression  is 
allowable)  in  terms  of  painting.  He  could  not  dissever  his  most 
purely  intellectual  ideas  from  colour  and  form ;  and  it  is  the  intrusion 
of  these  physical  facts  into  his  poetry,  in  places  where  they  are 


HYPOCHONDRIA   AND   ILLNESS.  303 

unexpected  and  unnecessary,  that  gives,  to  hasty  readers  and  super- 
ficial critics,  such  a  wrong  impression.  And,  in  the  same  way  as  he 
charges  a  poem  with  more  colour  and  form  than  it  can  well  bear 
with  reference  to  its  special  subject,  so  does  he  charge  his  pictures 
with  a  weight  of  idea  which  their  form  and  colour  scarcely  realize ; 
and  in  both  he  calls  upon  the  spectator  to  be  at  once  the  witness 
and  the  interpreter  of  his  work.  From  this  there  results  in  his 
poetry  the  following  effect — that  he  is  at  his  finest  when  he  has  to 
tell  some  plain  story,  or  exemplify  some  comparatively  simple  thought, 
the  insertion  into  which  of  physical  facts  will  heighten  the  meaning 
rather  than  jar  upon  it ;  or  in  verses  which  treat  intellectual  ideas 
from  a  purely  sensuous  basis,  such  for  instance  as  in  those  sonnets 
which  are  concerned  with  the  passion  of  love.  When  however  he 
seeks  to  treat  either  a  purely  intellectual  or  a  purely  spiritual  subject, 
he  fails  almost  inevitably,  and  that  apparently  in  painting  as  well  as 
in  poetry.  Like  Anteus,  if  he  is  held  off  the  earth  too  long  his 
strength  fails  him.  It  is  this  painter-like  quality  which  makes  his 
verse  so  puzzling ;  for  in  idea  it  is,  almost  without  exception,  of  a 
singularly  pure  and  intellectual  character.  Turn  from  his  verse  to 
his  painting,  and  the  same  curious  contradiction  is  forced  upon  our 
attention.  We  find  continually,  in  his  pictures  where  the  painter's 
individuality  is  most  manifest,  that  the  reproduction  of  the  sensuous 
part  of  his  subject  is,  so  to  speak,  interfered  with  by  the  strange, 
half-refining,  half-abstract  quality  of  his  intellect.  .  .  .  All  the  other 
physical  peculiarities  to  be  traced  in  his  works  are  all  due  to  the 
passionately  sensuous  but  equally  passionately  intellectual  nature  of 
Rossetti.  They  are  the  record  of  a  man  whose  sense  of  beauty  was 
always  being  disturbed  by  his  sense  of  feeling." 


XXXIV. 

HYPOCHONDRIA  AND  ILLNESS. 

We  have  now  reached  what  may  be  called  "the  parting 
of  the  waters"  in  Dante  Rossetti's  life.  In  earlier  years  he 
had  had  his  tribulations  :  difficulties  in  his  professional  career, 
the  ill-health  of  his  loved  Lizzie,  with  ensuing  harasses  in 
relation  to  their  engagement,  and  to  their  matrimonial  life  ; 
her   early    and    shocking    death,    with    troublous    memories 


304  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

attending  it,  and  anxieties  and  self-conflicts  ensuing ;  partial 
failure  of  eyesight ;  insomnia,  only  combated  by  perilous 
palliatives.  Still,  on  the  whole,  as  he  stood  at  the  middle 
of  1 87 1,  and  even  on  to  the  spring  of  1872,  he  was  a 
moderately  healthy  man,  and  in  many  respects  a  thriving 
if  not  exactly  a  happy  one.  For  happiness  some  fair  measure 
of  contentment  is  essential ;  and  Rossetti,  a  man  of  restless 
imagination  and  vehement  desires,  better  satisfied  with  his 
surroundings  than  with  himself  and  his  performances,  was 
never  contented,  and  therefore  never,  in  a  right  sense,  happy. 
His  aspirations,  though  to  some  extent  assuaged,  were  by 
no  means  soothed  into  serenity  ;  but  this  I  need  not  say, 
for  no  aspirations,  properly  to  be  thus  called,  will  be  so  in 
the  little  life  which  is  rounded  with  a  sleep.  Nature  had 
endowed  him  with  an  ample  stock  of  high-heartedness  and 
high  spirits.  These  served  to  while  the  time  for  his  external 
self  and  for  his  friends,  while  moody  distaste,  and  something 
like  a  surging  mist  of  gloom,  were  often  active  within.  He 
was  a  successful  man :  successful  and  admired  as  a  painter 
— necessarily  in  a  small  circle,  as  he  would  not  exhibit ;  still 
more  successful  and  acclaimed  as  a  poet,  and  by  a  much 
wider  public.  Achievement  in  art  and  in  poetry  he  had 
always  longed  for,  for  these  he  had  passionately  worked ; 
to  general  recognition  he  was  not  indifferent.  Fortune  had 
thrown  in  a  more  than  wonted  share  of  her  capricious  favours. 
Loving  and  beloved  by  his  family,  warmly  cherished  by  his 
friends,  acknowledged  by  his  intellectual  compeers,  sought 
out  by  strangers  as  a  man  of  renown,  he  seemed  to  have 
attained  a  singularly  enviable  position.  It  was  indeed  one 
of  those  positions  which  Destiny  begrudges  to  men,  and 
determines  to  reverse. 

This  was  Dante  Rossetti  viewed  from  the  outside  in  1871. 
"  But  I  have  that  within  which  passeth  show."  Mental 
trouble  and  a  too  active  and  unappeased  imagination  had 
long  ago  brought  on  insomnia ;  insomnia  had  brought  on 
chloral ;  chloral  had  brought  on  depression,  agitation,  and  a 
turmoil  of  fantasies.     I  think  it  clear,  judging  from  results, 


HYPOCHONDRIA  AND  ILLNESS.  305 

that  my  brother — being  "  put  out,"  though  not  gravely  per- 
turbed, by  the  Contemporary  article,  and  by  the  announcement 
that  it  would  soon  be  enlarged  and  re-published  separately  — 
must  have  got  even  worse  sleep  than  usual,  and  must  have 
exceeded  more  than  usual  in  his  chloral-dosing  and  its  con- 
comitant of  alcohol.  Certain  it  is  that,  when  the  pamphlet- 
edition  appeared  (which  was  towards  the  middle  of  May 
1872),  with  its  greatly  enhanced  virus  of  imputation  and 
suggestion,  he  received  it  in  a  spirit  very  different  from  that 
with  which  he  had  encountered  the  review-article,  and  had 
confuted  it  in  The  Stealthy  School  of  Criticism.  His  fancies 
now  ran  away  with  him,  and  he  thought  that  the  pamphlet 
was  a  first  symptom  in  a  widespread  conspiracy  for  crushing 
his  fair  fame  as  an  artist  and  a  man,  and  for  hounding  him 
out  of  honest  society.  Most  of  his  friends,  myself  included, 
combated  these  ideas.  I  question  whether  his  closest  con- 
fidant, Madox  Brown,  did  so  with  adequate  energy,  for  he 
himself,  though  reasonable  and  clear-headed,  was  of  a  very 
suspicious  temper  in  professional  matters,  and  held  himself 
and  his  immediate  circle  to  be  not  a  little  ill-used.  My 
brother's  notions  were,  as  I  have  said,  fancies,  and  fancies 
bred,  not  of  a  temperate  consideration  of  facts,  but  of  the 
constitutional  and  mental  upset  caused  by  a  noxious  drug. 
Still,  it  is  manifest,  upon  the  face  of  his  booklet,  that  the 
charges  brought  forward  and  reinforced  by  Mr.  Buchanan 
were  by  no  manner  of  means  light  ones.  They  Were  sufficient 
— if  believed,  which  I  suppose  they  very  scantily  were — to 
exclude  Rossetti  from  the  companionship  of  virtuous  and 
even  of  decent  people ;  and  it  was  no  fault  of  this  "  accuser 
of  sins"  (to  use  Blake's  expression)  if  such  a  result  did  not 
ensue. 

I  do  not  remember,  and  do  not  wish  to  remember,  all  the 
details  about  Mr.  Buchanan's  performances,  and  their  reception 
by  the  press.  He  had  of  course  his  supporters — not  perhaps 
extremely  numerous.  I  don't  suppose  that  a  single  poet  of 
renown  was  among  them.  Tennyson  (as  I  have  reason  to 
know  positively)  was  one  of  the  first  to  object  to  the  attack 

vol.  1.  20 


306  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

that  it  was  by  no  means  a  fair  appraisement  of  Rossetti, 
much  of  whose  work  he  rated  extremely  high,  the  sonnets 
especially.  In  January  1872,  midway  between  the  Con- 
temporary article  and  the  pamphlet,  there  was  a  critique  in 
the  Quarterly  Review  (I  have  heard  it  ascribed  to  Mr. 
Courthope)  which  was  unfavourable  to  Rossetti,  and  more 
especially  to  Mr.  Morris,  less  so  to  Mr.  Swinburne.  Mr. 
Hall  Caine  has  spoken  of  other  adverse  articles  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review  and  the  British  Quarterly.  Their  dates 
and  other  details,  if  ever  known  to  me,  have  slipped  my 
recollection.  I  can  dimly  recall  a  leading  article  in  the 
Echo,  one  word  in  which,  "  coward  "  or  "  cowards,"  disturbed 
my  brother  unduly.  This  article — possibly  without  the  least 
reason — has  been  ascribed  to  Mr.  Buchanan  himself.  So 
overstrained  was  the  balance  of  his  mind  at  the  time  that 
my  brother  seriously  consulted  me  as  to  whether  it  might 
not  be  his  duty  to  challenge  the  writer  or  the  editor  to  a 
duel.  I  need  hardly  record  my  reply — that  duels  in  this 
common-sensible  country  are  equally  illegal  and  risible.  Mr. 
Buchanan's  own  preface  to  his  pamphlet  makes  use  of  the 
same  offensive  word.  After  referring  to  "  Mr.  Rossetti's 
defence,  and  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Rossetti's  friends,"  he  is 
pleased  to  say  (and  to  this  also  my  brother  greatly  objected) 
— "  I  have  only  one  word  to  use  concerning  the  attacks  upon 
myself.  They  are  the  inventions  of  cowards,  too  spoilt  with 
flattery  to  bear  criticism,  and  too  querulous  and  humoursome 
to  perceive  the  real  issues  of  the  case."  It  does  not  seem 
to  have  occurred  to  Mr.  Buchanan  to  ponder  whether  the 
term  "  coward "  applies  more  properly  to  a  verse-writer  who 
anonymously  (not  to  say  pseudonymously)  assails  another 
verse-writer,  intermingling  questions  of  morals  with  those 
of  poetry — or  rather  to  the  man  who,  being  thus  assailed, 
defends  himself  under  his  own  name,  or  to  friends  (or  it  may 
be  outsiders)  who,  with  or  without  their  names,  retort  on  the 
assailant. 

I  am  sorry  to  dwell  at  so  much  length  upon  this  really 
contemptible,  and  by  its  very  author  discarded,  affair  of  The 


Hypochondria  and  illness.  307 

Fleshly  School  of  Poetry  ;  but,  as  a  biographer,  I  could  not 
from  this  point  onward  tell  a  word  of  truth  unless  I  gave 
it  prominence.  In  my  brother's  life  it  was  deplorably 
prominent,  though  in  itself  of  hardly  more  importance  than 
some  one's  bad  breath  passing  across  a  looking-glass  and 
slurring  it  for  a  moment.  The  whole  matter  grieved  me 
exceedingly  at  the  time,  and  will  always  continue  to  grieve 
me  in  reminiscence  or  record.  It  is  a  simple  fact  that,  from 
the  time  when  the  pamphlet  had  begun  to  work  into  the 
inner  tissue  of  his  feelings,  Dante  Rossetti  was  a  changed 
man,  and  so  continued  till  the  close  of  his  life.  Difficult 
though  it  may  be  to  believe  this  of  a  person  so  self-reliant 
in  essentials  as  Rossetti — one  who  had  all  his  life  been  doing 
so  many  things  just  as  he  chose,  and  because  he  so  chose, 
and  whether  other  people  liked  them  or  not— it  is  nevertheless 
the  truth,  as  I  know  but  too  well. 

On  2  June  1872  I  was  with  my  brother  all  day  at  No.  16 
Cheyne  Walk.  It  was  one  of  the  most  miserable  days 
of  my  life,  not  to  speak  of  his.  From  his  wild  way  of 
talking — about  conspiracies  and  what  not — I  was  astounded 
to  perceive  that  he  was,  past  question,  not  entirely  sane.  I 
went  round  for  Mr.  Scott,  then  living  at  No.  92  Cheyne 
Walk  ;  and  he  (so  I  noted  in  my  Diary),  "  as  usual,  acted 
in  a  spirit  of  the  truest  and  kindest  friendship."  This  seems 
to  be  the  occasion  of  which  Mr.  Scott  speaks  in  his  Auto- 
biographical Notes.  He  says  that  "  Mr.  Marshall  and  Dr. 
Hake  were  there,"  but  my  own  impression  is  that  that  was 
on  a  slightly  later  day.  It  is  a  rather  curious  coincidence 
that,  on  this  same  2  June,  my  brother  completed  the  sale 
of  the  picture  of  which  he  had  painted  the  background  as 
far  back  as  1850  at  Sevenoaks  (see  Section  XVI.),  and  which 
he  had  recently  completed  under  the  name  of  The  Bower- 
meadow.  Messrs.  Pilgeram  and  Lefevre  bought  it  for  the 
large  price  of  £735.  When  Mr.  Lefevre  entered,  Rossetti 
was  in  a  state  of  nervous  agitation,  possessed  with  the  delusion 
that  all  sorts  of  people  were  set  against  him,  and  trying  to 
undervalue  him  ;  and    I   can   recollect  the  stare  of  surprise 


308  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

with  which  the  picture-dealer  received  Rossetti's  suggestion 
that,  if  the  picture  were  not  considered  good  value  for  its 
price,  the  agreement  might  be  cancelled.  Indeed  such  a  sugges- 
tion was  not  less  strange  as  coming  from  Rossetti,  the  paragon 
of  artists  at  making  a  bargain,  than  as  addressed  to  a  picture- 
dealer  (Gambart's  successor)  who  was  no  novice  at  taking 
care  of  himself. 

Another  most  unfortunate  circumstance  happened  about 
the  same  time — I  think  a  day  or  two  later.  Browning  had 
just  published  his  singular  poem  Fifine  at  the  Fair,  and  he 
sent  (as  in  previous  instances)  a  presentation-copy  to  my 
brother.  The  latter  looked  into  the  book ;  and,  to  the 
astonishment  of  bystanders,  he  at  once  fastened  upon  some 
lines  at  its  close  as  being  intended  as  an  attack  upon  him, 
or  as  a  spiteful  reference  to  something  which  had  occurred, 
or  might  be  alleged  to  have  occurred,  at  his  house.  In  a 
moment  he  relented,  with  an  effusion  of  tenderness  to  this  old, 
attached,  and  illustrious  friend ;  but  in  another  moment  the 
scarcely  credible  delusion  returned.  Browning  was  regarded 
as  a  leading  member  of  the  "  conspiracy  "  ;  and,  from  first 
to  last,  I  was  never  able  to  discern  that  this  miserable  bug- 
bear had  ever  been  expelled  from  the  purlieus  of  my  brother's 
mind.  He  saw  no  more  of  Browning,  and  communicated 
with  him  no  more  ;  and  on  one  or  two  occasions  when  the 
great  poet,  the  object  of  Rossetti's  early  and  unbounded 
homage,  kindly  enquired  of  me  concerning  him,  and  expressed 
a  wish  to  look  him  up,  I  was  compelled  to  fence  with  the 
suggestion,  lest  worse  should  ensue — no  doubt  putting  myself 
in  a  very  absurd  and  unaccountable  position.  Whether 
Browning  ever  knew  that  Dante  Rossetti  had  conceived  a 
real  dislike  of  him,  or  supposed  himself  to  have  motive  of 
definite  complaint,  I  am  unable  to  say.  He  was  certainly 
far  too  keen  to  miss  seeing  that  there  was  something  amiss, 
and  something  which  was  kept  studiously  unexplained. 
Another  extravagant  fantasy  took  hold  of  my  brother's 
mind  at  this  or  some  other  time — namely,  that  the  wildly 
grotesque  verses  of  Mr.  Dodgson  (whom  he  knew  fairly  well) 


HYPOCHONDRIA  AND   ILLNESS.  309 

called  The  Hunting  of  the  Snark  were  in  fact  intended  as 
a  pasquinade  against  himself.  So  Mr.  Dodgson  was  another 
member  of  the  conspiracy. 

Thus  then  on  2  June  I  was  dismayed  to  find  my  brother 
an  actual  monomaniac.  I,  who  had  known  him  from  infancy, 
had  never  before  seen  or  surmised  the  faintest  seed  of 
insanity  in  him.  Wilful  indeed  he  always  was,  but,  so  far 
from  being  mad,  his  strong  idiosyncrasy  had  never  trenched 
even  upon  what  can  be  called  the  eccentric.  He  was 
eminently  natural,  as  very  many  Italians  are  ;  and  in  this 
quality  he  followed,  to  my  thinking,  rather  the  Italian  model 
than  the  English,  which  latter  derives  more  from  sturdy 
straightforwardness  than  from  direct  temperament.  He  was 
easy,  abrupt  when  he  liked,  and  transparently  intelligible 
— except  in  so  far  as  a  high  and  subtle  mind  baffles 
one  of  a  dull  or  conventional  order.  On  that  fatal  2  June, 
and  for  many  days  and  months  ensuing,  I  was  compelled 
to  regard  my  brother  as  partially  insane,  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  that  term.  It  was  only  after  an  interval  of  time, 
and  as  I  had  opportunity  to  compare  and  consider  the 
opinions  expressed  by  medical  men  and  others  well  qualified 
to  judge,  that  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  never  had 
been  and  never  became  thus  insane  at  all,  but  was  on  the 
contrary  the  victim  of  chloral,  acting  upon  strained  nerves, 
mental  disquiet,  and  a  highly  excitable  imagination — all  these 
coupled  with  a  grievous  and  fully  justified  sense  of  wrong. 
For  many  years  past  my  conviction  has  been  that  hypo- 
chondria, consequent  upon  the  over-dosing  with  chloral  and 
alcohol — this,  and  not  anything  dependent  upon  constitutional 
unsoundness  of  mind — was  the  real  secret  of  my  brother's 
frenzied  collapse.  Mr.  Caine,  speaking  according  to  his 
observation,  which  began  in  1880,  has  expressed  a  like 
opinion. 

From  this  point  onward  I  shall  assume  in  good  faith  (and 
my  reader  can  part  company  with  me  if  he  chooses)  that 
my  brother's  fantasies  were  those  of  a  hypochondriac,  not 
a  madman  ;  and  that  the  hypochondria  was  directly  due  to 


310  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

the  chloral,  but  without  leaving  out  of  account  those  other 
incentives  of  which  I  have  just  spoken.  Meanwhile,  whatever 
the  cause,  his  mind  was  truly  not  a  sound  one.  He  not  only 
supposed  things  contrary  to  reason,  but  he  had  actual  physical 
delusions  or  hallucinations.  I  cannot  remember — then  or 
afterwards — any  visual  delusions  ;  but  there  were  auditive 
delusions,  as  I  shall  have  over-much  occasion  to  specify. 

Mr.  Marshall  was  called  in  ;  and  by  his  directions  I 
summoned  also  Dr.  Maudsley,  the  great  authority  on  mental 
diseases.  My  brother,  in  his  perverse  mood,  did  not  like 
Dr.  Maudsley,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  was 
probably  no  doctor,  but  some  one  foisted  upon  himself  for 
a  sinister  purpose.  Of  course  I  left  the  room  during  the 
medical  inspection  and  consultation  ;  nor  can  I  affirm  with 
accuracy  what  was  the  precise  opinion  that  Dr.  Maudsley 
formed  of  the  case.1  He  agreed  with  Mr.  Marshall  that  great 
care  was  requisite,  and  a  cessation  from  all  work  and  excite- 
ment. 

Dr.  Hake,  in  his  Memoirs  of  Eighty  Years,  has  written 
with  much  good  feeling  about  these  matters,  and  with  that 
scrupulous  reserve  which  marks  an  honourable  medical  man 
in  any  reference  to  a  patient.  He  was  the  earthly  Providence 
of  the  Rossetti  family  in  those  dark  days.  I  shall  borrow 
some  of  his  observations,  and  supplement  them.      He  says*: — 

"  One  morning  [I  consider  that  this  must  have  been  Friday 
7  June]  I  visited  him  [Dante  Rossetti]  at  Cheyne  Walk,  when  I  saw- 
that  the  restlessness  of  the  past  night  had  pursued  him  into  daytime. 
Qualifying  his  request  with  an  expression  of  great  regard,  he  asked 
me  not  to  stay.  His  medical  attendants  were  consulting  in  another 
room.  I  joined  them  there,  and  told  them  that  my  house  at 
Roehampton  was  open  to  Rossetti,  if  they  decided  that  he  needed 
change.  [A  very  pleasant  roomy  house  it  was,  with  a  large  well- 
kept  garden.]  On  the  same  evening,  in  company  with  his  brother 
and  Mr.  Madox  Brown  [I  suppose  Dr.  Hake  is  correct  with  regard 

1  As  to  exact  dates  and  details  my  Diary,  which  has  sometimes  stood 
me  in  good  stead,  assists  me  no  longer  hereabouts.  I  gave  it  up  in 
despair  on  5  June  1872,  and  did  not  resume  it  until  3  November, 


HYPOCHONDRIA  AND   ILLNESS.  311 

to  Brown,  though  I  do  not  now  realize  to  myself  his  presence],  he 
came  to  Roehampton  ;  and  I  remember  well  his  saying,  as  he  sat 
in  my  quiet  drawing-room,  that  he  was  enjoying  what  he  had  so  long 
ceased  to  feel,  and  that  was  peace." 

I  recollect  that  dismal  cab-journey  from  Chelsea  to 
Roehampton.  It  brought  out  the  state  of  physical  delusion 
besetting  my  brother  as  to  sounds ;  for  he  insisted,  several 
times  during  the  transit,  that  a  bell  was  being  rung  on  the 
roof  of  the  cab,  to  his  annoyance  ;  and,  at  the  moment  of 
dismounting  at  Dr.  Hake's  door,  he  tartly  apostrophized  the 
cabman  with  the  words,  "  Why  did  you  ring  that  bell  ? " 
The  cabman  looked  blank,  as  might  be  expected.  He  had 
often  been  called  for  my  brother  from  a  neighbouring  rank  ; 
and  it  is  probable  that,  on  getting  back  there,  he  imparted 
his  opinion  that  "  there  must  be  something  queer  with  Mr. 
Rossetti." 

Dr.  Hake's  next  phrase  (which"  I  shall  proceed  to  quote 
anon)  is  "  He  sat  up  late  in  conversation "  etc. ;  but  to  me 
it  seems  that  he  here  mixes  up  the  transactions  of  two  different 
evenings.  We  arrived  at  Dr.  Hake's  house  quite  after  dark, 
perhaps  towards  10  P.M.  ;  and  little,  I  should  say,  was  done 
beyond  settling  down  for  the  night.  The  next  day— Saturday 
by  my  reckoning — happened  to  be  a  very  untoward  one  for 
my  brother's  retirement.  It  was  the  day  preceding  Whit- 
Sunday  (or  some  such  holiday-time)  ;  and,  when  we  walked 
out  under  Dr.  Hake's  pleasant  escort,  we  found  any  number 
of  gipsy-vans  and  other  vehicles  encumbering  the  high-road. 
Rossetti's  roaming  ideas  being  still  in  the  ascendant,  he 
fancied  that  this  might  be  a  demonstration  got  up  in  his 
disparagement ;  and  he  was  with  difficulty  restrained  from 
running  after  some  of  the  conveyances,  and  interchanging  a 
wordy  war  with  their  drivers.  Our  walk  was  abridged  ;  we 
returned  to  Dr.  Hake's  house,  and  the  rest  of  the  day  passed 
in  comparative  quiet.  However,  after  dinner  some  reading 
was  proposed.  Merivale's  Roman  Empire  was  handed  to  me, 
and   I  began  reading  aloud  where   I  was  told  ;  and,  as  ill- 


312  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

luck  would  have  it,  this  passage  detailed  some  of  the  tiger- 
monkey  pranks  played  by  Caligula  or  Domitian,  to  drive 
his  submissive  senators  half  out  of  their  senses.  The  scenes 
depicted  bore  a  perilous  analogy  to  the  grotesque  encum- 
brances of  my  brother's  brain.  I  came  to  a  full  stop,  though 
greatly  urged  by  him  to  proceed,  as  he  wanted  to  know  the 
too-appetizing  details.     I  now  recur  to  Dr.  Hake  : — 

"  He  sat  up  late  in  conversation  with  his  brother  on  various 
family-matters ;  but  his  night  was  the  most  troubled  one  that  he  had 
hitherto  passed  through." 

The  Doctor's  laudable  reticence  as  to  this  matter  is  partly 
followed  by  Mr.  Bell  Scott,  who,  in  his  Autobiographical  Notes, 
says  : — 

"  A  cab  was  brought  at  once.  We  all  thought  it  strange  to  see 
him  [Rossetti]  so  willing  to  go ;  but  that  night  it  was  too  evident  he 
wanted  to  be  secluded,  and  for  three  days  he  lay  as  one  dead,  and 
only  by  a  treatment  invented  for  the  moment  by  Professor  Marshall 
was  he  cured." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  Mr.  Scott  shares  the  mistake  of 
Dr.  Hake  in  mixing  up  the  occurrences  of  Friday  evening 
and  night  with  those  of  Saturday  night ;  nor  is  it  clear  why 
Dante  Rossetti  should  have  been  more  "  secluded  "  in  the 
house  occupied  by  Dr.  Hake,  with  one  or  more  of  his  sons, 
and  with  my  company  to  boot,  than  in  his  own  house,  in 
which  he  could  command  solitude  if  it  so  pleased  him. 

Putting  together  the  statements  made  by  these  two  writers, 
the  reader  may  readily  infer  that  something  of  a  very  excep- 
tional kind  took  place  in  that  night,  really  the  night  of 
Saturday.  Rather  than  leave  the  matter  open  to  dubious 
conjecture — which  may  possibly  have  been  indulged  in  at 
large  ever  since  the  appearance  of  Scott's  book  in  1892 — I 
will  speak  out,  and  relate  the  facts.  In  these,  to  a  large 
extent,  I  took  part  at  the  moment ;  others  I  heard  from  my 
brother  soon  afterwards. 

Having  gone  to  bed  on  the  Saturday  night,  my  brother 


HYPOCHONDRIA   AND   ILLNESS.  313 

heard  (this  was  of  course  a  further  instance  of  absolute 
physical  delusion)  a  voice  which  twice  called  out  at  him  a 
term  of  gross  and  unbearable  obloquy — I  will  not  here  repeat 
it.  He  would  endure  no  longer  a  persecution  from  which  he 
perceived  no  escape.  He  laid  his  hand  upon  a  bottle  of 
laudanum  which,  unknown  to  us  all,  he  had  brought  with  him, 
swallowed  its  contents,  and  dropped  the  empty  bottle  into  a 
drawer.  Of  course  his  intention  was  suicide ;  but  it  was 
a  case  in  which  suicide  was  prompted  not  only  by  generally 
morbid  and  fallacious  ideas  but  by  a  real  hallucination,  and 
one  therefore  in  which  the  constant  verdict  of  "  unsound 
mind "  would  have  been  both  admissible  and  necessary. 
How  he  had  obtained  the  laudanum  I  never  knew.  Maybe 
he  had  long  had  it  about  him  as  an  opiate,  even  before  he 
began  the  nightly  course  of  chloral. 

The  Sunday  opened  calmly  and  hopefully.  The  fact  that 
my  brother  did  not  appear  at  the  family-breakfast  was  only 
conformable  to  his  ordinary  habits.  Dr.  Hake  went  up  in 
two  or  three  instances,  and  always  found  him  sleeping  with 
extreme  placidity.  He  encouraged  me  to  hope  that  this 
might  be  the  beginning  of  a  new  lease  of  natural  sleep,  and 
that  Dante  would  soon  be  taking  a  marked  turn  for  the 
better.  At  last — this  may  have  been  towards  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon — he  came  down  again,  with  an  exceedingly 
grave  face.  He  told  me  that  such  unusually  prolonged  sleep 
did  not  seem  natural ;  that  my  brother's  appearance  was  no 
longer  satisfying  to  a  medical  eye ;  and  that  the  symptoms 
might  almost  point  to  serous  apoplexy.  I  ran  out  for  a 
neighbouring  doctor,  who  came  at  once.  His  name  has  now 
lapsed  from  my  recollection.  He  looked  at  Rossetti,  and  at 
once  confirmed  our  worst  fears.  It  was  an  evident  case  of 
"  effusion  of  serum  on  the  brain,"  and  the  sufferer  was  already 
past  all  hope.  He  added  that,  if  by  chance  he  should  survive 
at  all,  his  intellect  would  be  irrecoverably  gone — a  sentence 
far  worse  than  death. 

It  became  my  harrowing  duty  to  go  to  town  as  fast  as  a  fly 
would  carry  me,  and  fetch  my  mother  and  my  sister  Maria, 


314  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

to  whom  Dr.  Hake  forthwith  proffered  the  hospitality  of  his 
house.  Christina  could  not  possibly  accompany  them.  She 
was  bed-ridden,  and  had  been  so  to  a  great  extent  ever  since 
April  1 87 1,  when  an  illness  of  great  rarity  attacked  her — one 
of  the  most  distressing  in  its  symptoms  I  have  ever  witnessed 
— termed  "  Exophthalmic  Bronchocele,"  or  "  Dr.  Graves's 
Disease."  This  illness  stuck  to  her  until  the  earlier  months 
of  1873,  and  all  that  while  her  life  hung  upon  a  thread.  In 
fact  some  marks  of  the  malady  clung  to  her  until,  from  a 
different  cause,  she  died  on  29  December  1894.  Mr.  George 
Hake,  the  doctor's  youngest  son,  came  up  with  me  from 
Roehampton  to  Endsleigh  Gardens.  He  was  then  an  Oxford 
student,  but  some  trouble  with  his  eyes  had  compelled  him  to 
interrupt  the  collegiate  course — a  particularly  manly,  frank, 
kind-natured  young  man.  Too  well  do  I  remember  some  of 
the  incidents  of  that  dreadful  drive  across  London,  and  of 
my  interview  with  members  of  the  family ;  these  I  suppress. 
The  family  had  advisedly  been  left  uninformed  of  the  sad 
condition  of  mind  and  body  into  which  Dante  had  fallen  for 
the  last  several  days,  although  they  knew  that  he  was  now  at 
Roehampton,  and  that  I  had  been  much  along  with  him  of 
late.  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  my  mother — who  was  not  at 
all  a  woman  of  presentiments  and  panics — had,  some  half- 
hour  or  so  before  I  reached  the  house,  been  suddenly  smitten 
with  a  sense  that  something  grievous  was  occurring  or 
impending,  and  with  an  eager  desire  to  speed  to  Roe- 
hampton, and  make  enquiry. 

Hurriedly  we  packed  a  few  necessaries,  and  returned  to  the 
fly — all  of  us  convinced  that  Dante  must  have  ceased  to  live 
before  we  could  reach  Roehampton.  An  aunt  of  mine,  Eliza 
Harriet  Polidori,  occupied  separate  apartments  in  the  Ends- 
leigh Gardens  house,  and  engaged  to  look  affectionately  after 
Christina.  At  the  residence  of  Madox  Brown,  37  Fitzroy 
Square,  I  got  out,  and  announced  the  crushing  calamity. 
Brown,  the  warmest  and  most  helpful  of  friends,  refused  to 
regard  the  case  as  absolutely  desperate,  and  ran  off  at  once 
for  Mr.  Marshall,  in  Savile  Row.     And  so — after  nightfall  in 


HYPOCHONDRIA   AND   ILLNESS.  3  I  5 

early  June,  or  towards  nine  in  the  evening — we  started  again, 
and  rolled  onward  to  Roehampton. 

Arriving,  we  learned  that  Dante  was  still  alive.  Dr.  Hake 
had  stationed  himself  at  his  bed-head,  and  held  to  his  nostrils 
a  large  bottle  of  strong  ammonia,  which  staved  off  his  sinking 
into  total  lethargy  ;  and  I  have  little  doubt  that  this  wise 
precaution  was  the  first  and  indispensable  stage  in  the  process 
which  saved  my  brother's  life.  Very  soon  the  Doctor  took 
me  quietly  aside,  and  produced  an  empty  bottle  which  he  had 
found  in  a  drawer.  It  was  labelled  "  Laudanum — Poison." 
We  exchanged  few  words,  but  were  quite  at  one  as  to  the 
meaning  of  this  bottle  ;  and  now  we  could  at  least  dismiss 
the  horrible  idea  of  any  such  mortal  illness  as  serous  apoplexy, 
or  of  idiocy  as  its  alternative,  and  could  address  ourselves  to 
what  was  needed  to  counteract  laudanum-poisoning.  I  will 
here  add  that  the  affair  of  the  poisoning  was  never,  from  first 
to  last,  intimated  to  my  mother,  my  sisters,  or  any  other 
member  of  the  family.  They  finished  their  days  in  ignorance 
of  the  facts. 

Pretty  soon  Mr.  Marshall  arrived.  He  ordered  strong 
coffee  as  the  recognized  antidote,  which  Dr.  Hake  himself 
prepared  and  administered,  and  then,  to  give  no  handle  to 
prying  curiosity,  cleared  away  all  the  dregs.  I  do  not  see 
how  Mr.  Scott  can  be  correct  in  regarding  this  treatment  as 
"  invented  for  the  moment "  by  the  distinguished  surgeon  ; 
but  certain  it  is  that  all  his  measures  were  equally  simple  and 
efficient.  Beyond  the  coffee,  he  did  little  or  nothing  except 
to  keep  the  necessary  functions  of  the  body  in  exercise. 
When  he  left,  our  spirits  were  already  considerably  revived  ; 
for  my  brother  showed  no  sign  of  going  from  bad  to  worse, 
but  something  like  a  steady  increase  of  vitality.  His  con- 
sciousness returned  in  the  course  of  Monday,  and  for  some 
hours  he  seemed  free  from  any  serious  agitation.  Mr.  Scott 
therefore  is  mistaken  in  saying  that  "  for  three  days  he  lay  as 
one  dead."  The  lethal  trance  only  lasted  from  some  hour  in 
the  night  between  Saturday  and  Sunday  to  some  hour  in  the 
afternoon  or  even  forenoon  of  Monday. 


316  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Unfortunately,  when  his  bodily  powers  rallied  a  little,  the 
gloomy  and  exasperating  fantasies  of  his  mind  recurred  as 
well,  and  by  the  evening  of  Tuesday  things  seemed  in  this 
respect  worse  than  ever.  What  to  do  was  a  difficult  problem. 
Dr.  Hake's  friendliness  would  have  been  equal  to  almost  any 
strain  that  could  be  put  upon  it ;  but  to  propose  to  leave 
Dante  with  him  indefinitely  was  what  we  could  not  do.  To 
return  for  any  length  of  time  to  Cheyne  Walk,  with  all  its 
distressful  memories  of  the  last  few  weeks,  was  a  notion 
repugnant  to  my  brother,  and  rejected  by  Mr.  Marshall.  In 
my  own  house,  with  Christina  on  a  bed  of  sickness,  perhaps 
of  death,  three  other  female  inmates  (not  to  speak  of  servants), 
and  myself  daily  called  away  to  a  Government-office,  Dante 
would  just  then  have  caused  the  most  wearing  anxiety. 
Ominous  colloquies  were  held  as  to  the  benefit  which  Dr. 
Hake  had  known  as  ensuing  from  treatment  in  a  private 
asylum.  But  in  a  day  or  two  the  difficulty  was  solved  by 
the  friend  of  friends,  Madox  Brown.  Dante  knew  all  the 
Brown  family  most  intimately  ;  Brown  understood  him  at 
least  as  thoroughly  as  did  any  member  of  the  Rossetti  house- 
hold ;  the  house  in  Fitzroy  Square  was  large  and  central. 
So  on  the  Thursday  my  brother,  not  so  greatly  out  of  health, 
and  in  a  state  of  mind  passive,  despondent,  but  no  longer 
keenly  excited,  quitted  Hake's  residence,  and  was  escorted  to 
Cheyne  Walk:  on  Monday  17  June  to  Brown's.  In  one 
respect  his  physical  state  was  very  disheartening.  He  suffered 
from  hemiplegia,  or  partial  paralysis  in  the  region  of  the 
hip-joint,  brought  on,  as  Mr.  Marshall  said,  by  his  remaining 
so  long  in  a  recumbent  position,  under  the  benumbing  influ- 
ence of  the  laudanum.  He  was  in  fact  quite  lame  of  one  leg, 
and  could  only  walk  by  the  help  of  a  stick.  This  continued 
very  perceptible  for  some  five  or  six  months,  and  was  not 
wholly  overcome  for  another  year  or  so.  At  last  it  was  sub- 
dued— either  entirely,  or  so  greatly  as  not  to  raise  any  further 
notice.  At  Brown's  house — though  extremely  dejected  for 
the  most  part,  and  wholly  unable  to  do  any  sort  of  work — my 
brother  proved  manageable  enough.     He  caused  no  trouble 


Hypochondria  and  illness.  317 

other  than  what  devoted  friendship  was  cheerfully  prepared 
for. 

I  have  given  these  painful  details  at  some  length,  but 
shall  not  pursue  with  equal  minuteness  the  course  of  Rossetti's 
troubles  up  to  the  date  when  his  health  and  spirits  took  a  very 
decided  rally.  He  remained  at  Brown's  house  not  more  than 
some  six  or  seven  days,  and  was  then,  on  20  June,  got  off  to 
Scotland  to  recruit.  Mr.  William  Graham,  M.P.,  who  had 
bought  the  Dante  s  Dream  and  other  pictures,  placed  at  his 
unreserved  disposal  for  a  while,  with  great  kindness  and 
liberality,  two  mansions  which  he  rented  in  Perthshire — first 
Urrard,  and  then  Stobhall.  It  was  not  considered  desirable 
that  I  should  accompany  my  brother — partly  because  of  my 
official  ties,  and  partly  because  I  might  be  (and  assuredly 
should  have  been)  depressed,  and  therefore  depressing. 
Brown  and  George  Hake  took  him  down  to  Urrard,  where  he 
remained,  I  think,  but  a  few  days  ;  then  they  removed  with  him 
to  Stobhall,  where  Scott  very  considerately  joined  the  party, 
relieving  Brown,  and,  soon  before  Scott  left,  arrived  Dr.  Hake. 
Thus  the  company  came  to  consist  of  the  two  Hakes  along 
with  Rossetti.  After  a  while,  early  in  September,  the  Doctor 
departed — from  a  farmhouse  to  which  they  had  meanwhile 
removed  at  Trowan  near  Crieff — and  Mr.  Dunn  then  came 
down.  My  brother  had  by  that  time  revived  considerably, 
and  had  resumed  painting — completing  towards  the  middle  of 
September  the  long-pending  duplicate  of  Beata  Beatrix  for 
Mr.  Graham.  I  will  give  a  few  details  of  the  Scotch  sojourn 
from  Mr.  Scott's  book,  and  from  Dr.  Hake's.  A  very  few 
more  appear  in  the  Family-letters  ;  and,  from  letters  addressed 
by  my  brother's  friends  to  me  at  the  time,  I  could  largely 
increase  them,  but  prefer  to  limit  myself  to  these  general 
outlines  of  a  great  downbreak,  seething  troublous  fancies,  and 
gradual  but  at  last  very  marked  recovery.  Mr.  Scott,  who 
preceded  Dr.  Hake,  writes  as  follows  (I  extract  some  par- 
ticulars, and  omit  others)  : — 

"  The  place  where  we  lived — Stobhall,  by  the  Tay  near  Perth — 
was,  two  centuries  ago,  one  of  the  houses  of  the  ancient  family  of 


jl8  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTi. 

the  Drummonds,  the  head  of  which— the  Duke  of  Perth,  as  the 
Jacobites  called  him — lost  everything  in  the  Rebellion  of  17 15. 
It  was  originally  a  peel-tower,  with  a  very  uncommon  appendage,  a 
chapel  of  the  same  early  date  as  the  tower;  and  now  it  had  one  of 
the  most  charming  old  gardens  I  have  ever  seen,  with  Irish  yews 
and  hollies,  trained  by  long  years  of  careful  shaping  into  straight 
columns  25  feet  high,  and  roses  almost  reaching  to  the  same 
height,  supported  on  poles.  The  part  we  lived  in  was  more 
modern.  He  could  not  take  much  walking-exercise.  He  could  not 
bear  reading,  nor  would  he  join  us  in  the  old  game  [whist].  I 
cannot  help  feeling  that  his  malady  was  unique— different  from  other 
maladies,  as  he  himself  was  different  from  other  men.  His  de- 
lusions had  a  fascination,  like  his  personality.  In  a  few  months  his 
amazing  power  of  resuscitation  brought  him  back  to  health.  He 
still  continued  to  assert  that  we  were  under  delusions,  and  not  he 
himself,  as  to  the  number  of  his  enemies ;  and  it  was  difficult  to 
make  him  own  he  had  been  ill  at  all." 

He  had  in  fact  not  been  exactly  "  ill,"  apart  from  the 
laudanum-poisoning,  the  merely  local  hemiplegia,  the  malady 
treated  surgically,  and  the  mental  disturbance  resultant  from 
chloral-dosing.     And  now  for  Dr.  Hake  : — 

"  It  was  not  long  before  Rossetti's  occupation  of  the  place 
[Stobhall]  came  to  a  close.  He  was  fast  improving  in  health.  He 
took  long  walks,  but  without  any  enjoyment  of  the  scenery,  which 
was  made  romantic  by  waterfall  and  splashed  leaves  ever  fresh,  the 
elastic  boughs  bending  under  the  weight  of  a  torrent.  So  far 
recovered,  he  desired  to  remain  in  Perthshire,  but  still  craved  for 
the  utmost  solitude.  In  search  of  such  a  home,  I  took  the  train 
to  Perth,  visited  St.  Andrew's,  returned  to  Perth,  and  proceeded 
to  Crieff,  where  I  remained  for  some  days,  and  scoured  the  environs. 
At  last  it  occurred  to  me  to  call  on  the  leading  practitioner,  Dr. 
Gairdner,  and  was  directed  by  him  to  a  farmhouse  two  or  three  miles 
from  the  town,  on  the  riverside.  The  house  had  every  requirement, 
and  was  kept  by  a  lady-farmer,  whose  manner  and  person  had  every 
agreeable  trait.  We  drove  to  the  new  home.  It  was  a  pleasant 
spot,  with  a  walk  into  Crieff  by  the  riverside,  down  to  a  wilderness 
of  waters.  There  was  plenty  of  mountain-scenery  in  view.  Rossetti 
rapidly  improved  in  health,  stumping  his  way  over  long  areas  of 


HYPOCHONDRIA  AND  ILLNESS.  319 

path  and  road,  with  his  thick  stick  in  hand,  but  holding  no  inter- 
course with  Nature.  It  was  not  long  before  he  summoned  his 
assistant  [Mr.  Dunn],  with  the  implements  of  his  art,  and  he  was 
once  more  happy.  At  this  time  he  made  a  chalk  drawing  of  me, 
and  one  of  my  son.  As  a  domestic  trait,  I  would  mention  that 
Rossetti  was  very  hearty  at  all  times  over  his  meals.  He  would 
wear  out  three  knives  and  forks  to  my  one  ;  and  to  me,  whose 
breakfast  seldom  exceeded  one  cup  of  coffee,  his  plate  of  bacon, 
surrounded  by  eggs  that  overlapped  the  rim,  was  amazing.  [My 
own  experience  of  my  brother's  breakfasts  corresponds  with  this. 
It  should  be  understood  however  that  he  only  ate  two  meals  in  a 
day.  In  London  he  wholly  eschewed  every  sort  of  lunch,  and  I 
dare  say  at  Trowan  as  well.  He|  breakfasted  copiously  towards  ten 
or  eleven ;  then  set-to  at  painting,  his  ordinary  allowance  of  which 
was  every  ensuing  scrap  of  daylight ;  then,  more  or  less  late  accord- 
ing to  season,  but  often  as  late  as  nine  in  the  evening  or  even 
afterwards,  he  dined,  with  abundance  of  appetite.]  I  may  further 
truly  say  that  he,  not  being  a  believer  in  physiological  things,  did 
not  regard  tea  as  possessing  the  attributes  of  totality.  [Clearly,  by 
this  facetious  phrase,  the  doctor  means  that  Rossetti  was  much  the 
reverse  of  a  teetotaller.  A  teetotaller  he  never  was  ;  but  in  youth 
he  was  abstemious  to  a  very  unusual  degree,  and  I  question  whether 
I  ever  once  saw  him  exceed  in  wine  or  other  stimulants  at  table. 
As  to  whisky-drams  washing-down  chloral,  and  now  and  then  at 
some  other  time  of  the  day,  I  have  already  spoken.]  By  a  careful 
treatment  of  him  I  procured  him  good  nights  ;  effecting  this  object 
chiefly  by  remaining  at  his  bedside,  and  draining  my  memory  of 
every  anecdote  I  had  ever  heard,  and  relating  to  him  every  amusing 
incident  that  I  had  encountered  during  life  in  my  intercourse  with 
the  world.  Finding  him  so  well  recovered,  I  left  him  in  the  hands 
of  his  assistant  and  of  my  son,  after  an  absence  of  many  weeks." 

Here  I  may  as  well  say  that  that  malady  requiring  surgical 
treatment  of  which  I  made  mention  in  Section  XXIX.,  and 
which  was  ordinarily  attended  to  by  the  eminent  surgeon 
Mr.  Durham  (an  old  acquaintance),  troubled  my  brother  a 
good  deal  about  this  period ;  and,  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
Scotland,  it  was  even  thought  that  Mr.  Marshall  might  have 
to  go   down   to   relieve   him.     Ultimately,  however,  a  local 


3^0  DANTE   GAfeRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

surgeon    was    employed,   and    with   entire    success    for    the 
time. 

Dante  Rossetti  was  one  of  those  men  whose  money -affairs, 
however  prosperous  in  a  general  sense,  would  be  sure,  at  any 
moment  of  crisis  or  disablement,  to  present  difficulties  and 
complications  ;  one  salient  reason  for  this  being  that,  upon 
undertaking  any  commission  for  a  picture,  he  received  in- 
stalments of  payment  to  keep  him  going  while  the  work  was 
in  progress,  and  thus,  if  the  work  came  to  a  standstill,  he 
owed  money  for  paintings  undelivered  and  undeliverable. 
When  the  great  upset  of  1872  took  place,  followed  by  some 
three  months  of  enforced  idleness,  with  an  indisposition, 
amounting  to  incapacity,  for  attending  to  any  details  of 
business,  the  care  of  his  money-matters  devolved  upon  me. 
Mr.  Scott's  reference  to  this  minor  affair  is  highly  erroneous.1 
He  thinks  that  I  was  "  so  prostrated  with  anxiety  that  F.  M. 
Brown  took  all  business-matters  out  of  my  hand."  Nothing 
of  the  sort  was  done.  I  was  not  prostrated,  though  I  as- 
suredly was  afflicted,  and,  had  I  not  been  so,  the  more  shame 
to  me.  My  brother's  money  was  removed  from  his  own 
bank,  and  placed  in  Brown's  bank  (I  had  no  bank  of  my  own 
until  two  or  three  weeks  later)  in  the  joint  names  of  Brown 
and  myself.  We  drew  joint  cheques  for  my  brother's  occa- 
sions at  first.  After  a  very  short  time,  a  different  arrangement 
was  made,  and  I  myself  banked  the  money,  and  alone  drew 
the  cheques  ;  and,  as  matters  rapidly  righted  themselves,  no 
sort  of  inconvenience  ensued  to  my  brother,  his  creditors,  or 
any  one  else.  One  of  the  first  things  done,  to  raise  convenient 
funds  in  hand,  was  to  sell-off  Rossetti's  beautiful  collection 
of  blue  china.  I  alone  transacted  this  business,  and  secured 
an  offer  of  £650.  I  informed  my  brother  by  letter,  and  he 
replied  by  letter  on  4  July,  ratifying  the  arrangement.  Here 
again  Mr.  Scott  was  either  much  misinformed,  or  else  he 
wrote  from  some  mere  supposition  of  his  own — speaking  of 

1  I  said  as  much  in  a  letter  which  I  got  published  in  The  Academy 
towards  the  close  of  1892,  soon  after  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Scott's 
volumes. 


STAY  AND   WORK   AT   KELMSCOTT,    1 872-4.  32 i 

"  the  disposal,  without  his  [Dante  Rossetti's]  knowledge,  of 
this  assemblage  of  pots  and  dishes."  On  another  point  Mr. 
Scott  is  of  course  right — namely,  that,  when  Dante  quitted 
his  Cheyne  Walk  house  for  Brown's  or  for  Scotland,  "  it  was 
thought  proper  to  have  all  his  pictures,  finished  or  in  progress, 
removed  elsewhere.  They  were  accordingly  taken  to  my 
[Scott's]  house,  which  was  conveniently  near,  among  them 
the  huge  Dante's  Dream."  We  were  naturally  very  glad  to 
get  these  works  out  of  Rossetti's  house,  left  with  no  regular 
tenant,  and  much  obliged  to  Mr.  Scott  for  storing  them. 
They  were  deposited  in  a  large  kind  of  brick-and-glass 
structure  which  stood  in  his  back-garden,  and  which  he 
himself  used  at  times  as  a  studio. 


XXXV. 

STAY  AND    WORK  AT  KELMSCOTT,    1872-4.— 
THEODORE   WATTS. 

TRAVELLING  southward  from  Scotland  in  the  company  of 
Mr.  George  Hake,  Rossetti  reached  Kelmscott  Manor-house 
on  24  September  1872  ;  and,  allowance  being  made  for  his 
partial  lameness,  he  seemed  healthy,  robust,  full  of  working- 
energy,  and  on  the  whole  calm-minded,  and  even  for  the 
most  part  in  excellent  spirits.  The  reader  will  recollect  that 
the  Manor-house  was  occupied  by  Mr.  Morris  and  his  family 
jointly  with  Rossetti.  They  were  not  always  there  ;  but  one 
or  other  member  of  the  family,  sometimes  all  of  them  to- 
gether, were  present  very  frequently ;  and  thus  my  brother 
was  usually  supplied  with  plenty  of  congenial  society,  even 
apart  from  other  friends  of  his  from  London  who  often  ran 
down  for  some  days.  Mr.  George  Hake  also  was  permanently 
with  him,  assisting  him  in  secretarial  and  other  work,  at 
which  he  was  equally  expert  and  obliging.  I  saw  my  brother 
at  Kelmscott  for  a  week  or  so  towards  the  end  of  October, 
and  found  him  in  very  good  trim,  although  occasionally 
something  showed  in  his  mind  some  trace  of  lurking  suspicion 
VOL.  I.  21 


322  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

or  prejudice.  He  continued  taking  chloral.  In  one  instance 
at  least,  January  1874,  I  attended,  under  Mr.  Marshall's 
directions,  to  getting  the  drug,  before  its  being  dispatched  to 
Kelmscott,  diluted,  so  that  its  strength  was  only  half  what 
my  brother  was  left  to  suppose.  At  Kelmscott  he  abandoned 
shaving,  and  grew  whiskers  and  beard  all  round — as  some 
people  thought,  to  the  detriment  of  his  appearance  ;  mous- 
taches he  had  worn  for  a  long  succession  of  years,  though 
not  in  his  very  earliest  youth.  Having  once  begun  a  beard, 
he  never  left  it  off  again.  He  continued  keeping  very  late 
hours.  According  to  Oliver  Madox  Brown — his  old  friend's 
son,  then  a  youth  of  nineteen,  who  showed  astonishing  pre- 
cocious faculty  both  in  painting  and  in  novel-writing,  and 
who  visited  him  in  March  1874 — the  dinner-hour  was  1*0  P.M. ; 
and,  according  to  Rossetti  himself,  on  the  occasion  of  a  short 
visit  from  Mr.  Howell,  "  3  A.M.  gave  place  to  5  A.M.  as  bed- 
time before  the  house  was  clear  of  him."  What  could  be 
expected  for  a  man  of  forty-five,  recovering  from  a  fearful 
state  of  nervous  prostration  and  enfeebled  health,  who,  dining 
at  10,  went  to  bed  at  3  or  5,  and  dosed  himself  with  chloral 
and  alcohol  before  hoping  for  a  wink  of  sleep  ?  From  these 
unnatural  conditions  a  natural  consequence  had  to  ensue, 
and,  after  a  longer  interval  than  might  have  been  counted 
upon,  it  did  ensue. 

It  is  in  the  opening  days  of  this  Kelmscott  sojourn  that 
I  find  the  first  trace  of  Mr.  Theodore  Watts  in  my  brother's 
correspondence.  As  a  solicitor,  Mr.  Watts,  a  friend  of  Dr. 
Hake,  advised  Rossetti  in  adjusting  a  provoking  matter  about 
a  forgery  which  had  recently  been  committed  upon  him,  and 
of  which  the  Family-letters  exhibit  something.  As  we  all 
know,  however,  Mr.  Watts  is  much  else  besides  being  a 
solicitor — a  man  of  letters,  poet,  and  critic  ;  and  very  soon 
my  brother  found  that  this  gentleman's  converse  and  sym- 
pathy in  literary  matters  were  quite  as  welcome  to  him  as 
his  mastery  of  the  law.  As  years  went  on,  Mr.  Watts  became 
by  far  the  most  constant  companion  and  mainstay  of  Rossetti, 
whether  in  relation  to  literary  work,  to  business-affairs,  or 


STAY   AND   WORK   AT   KELMSCOTT,    1 872-4.  323 

to  daily  intercourse — daily,  and  indeed  nightly  as  well.  This 
unweariable  friend  was  by  him  in  all  his  requirements  ;  and 
it  is  difficult  to  conjecture  how  Rossetti  would,  without  him, 
have  passed  his  closing  years — certainly  in  some  guise  and 
under  some  arrangements  very  different  from  those  which 
actually  obtained.  A  letter  from  my  brother  to  Madox 
Brown — dating,  it  may  be,  early  in  1873 — contains  the  follow- 
ing words,  which  he  had  occasion  to  repeat  inwardly,  if  not 
outwardly,  times  out  of  number  : — 

"  Watts  left  yesterday.     He  is  a  first-rate  companion  and  a  first- 
rate  fellow — few  equal  to  him  in  sterling  qualities  and  cultivation." 

Mr.  Charles  Augustus  Howell  was  a  man  of  many 
activities,  and  into  all  of  them  he  threw  himself  with  great 
vivacity,  enterprise,  and  push.  He  had  ere  now  ceased  to  be 
Ruskin's  secretary,  and  had  become  a  speculator  and  dealer 
in  works  of  art  of  many  kinds.  For  the  last  year  or  two  my 
brother  had  lost  sight  of  him  mostly  or  wholly.  The  latter 
had  settled  down  at  Kelmscott,  an  out-of-the-way  place  of 
great  seclusion,  because  he  deemed  it  necessary  for  his  health 
and  comfort,  and  for  the  avoidance  of  some  of  the  worry  and 
harass  which  in  London  seemed  certain  either  to  beset  him, 
or  to  be  regarded  by  himself  as  besetting  him  ;  and  he  had 
resumed  painting  with  all  zest  and  energy — equal  at  least  to 
what  had  marked  him  in  any  earlier  years.  His  style  was 
now  larger  than  aforetime,  and  his  tone  of  mind  for  pictorial 
work  more  tense,  though  certainly  not  more  inventive,  nor 
so  much  a  denizen  of  the  realms  of  romance.  With  his 
acute  eye  for  business,  he  soon  saw  that  his  isolation  on 
the  borders  of  four  shires — Oxford,  Gloucester,  Berks,  and 
Wilts — was  not  exactly  adapted  for  confirming  or  improving 
his  professional  success.  He  had  a  few  attached  and  steady 
purchasers — chiefly  now  Leyland  and  Graham  ;  but  these 
and  others  could  not  be  continually  running  after  him,  to 
see  what  work  was  in  hand,  and  to  commission  it  if  falling-in 
with  their  tastes.  Rossetti  therefore,  soon  after  housing 
at  Kelmscott,  determined  that  he  would  have  an  agent  in 


324  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

London,  to  transact  the  sale  of  uncommissioned  work  and 
any  other  business  on  hand  ;  and  he  decided  that  Howell 
was  his  man  for  such  purposes.  Howell  acquiesced  with 
great  alacrity.  Whatever  his  faults,  he  was  a  man  of  lively 
feelings,  capable  of  regarding  a  confiding  friend  with  pre- 
dilection, and  even  affection  ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that  from 
first  to  last  there  was  a  very  warm  corner  in  his  heart  for 
Dante  Rossetti.  As  a  salesman — with  his  open  manner,  his 
winning  address,  and  his  exhaustless  gift  of  amusing  talk, 
not  innocent  of  high  colouring  and  of  actual  blague — Howell 
was  unsurpassable ;  and  he  achieved  for  Rossetti,  with  ease 
and  also  with  much  ingenious  planning,  many  a  stroke  of 
most  excellent  professional  business,  such  as  other  men,  less 
capable  of  playing  upon  the  hobbies  or  weaknesses  of  their 
fellow-creatures,  would  have  found  arduous  or  impossible. 
His  very  voice,  with  a  scarcely  perceptible  foreign  twang 
in  it,  was  a  gift  of  Nature  which  no  art  could  have  rivalled. 
He  had  a  good  footing  in  society,  and  in  the  world  of  art 
many  ins  and  outs  of  connexion.  Howell  and  Rossetti 
kept  up  at  Kelmscott  a  very  active  correspondence  ;  and 
the  painter  entrusted  to  his  agent  several  works,  which  he 
found  to  go  off  very  much  to  his  satisfaction.  To  all  this 
there  was  a  less  pleasing  side,  which  developed  in  course  of 
time  ;  but  I  will  here  say  with  emphasis  that  my  brother, 
long  after  he  and  Howell  had  parted  company,  assured  me 
more  than  once  that  he  had  materially  benefited  in  purse 
from  Howell's  exertions,  had  at  no  other  time  experienced 
equal  facilities  in  disposing  of  his  works,  and  had  never  been 
conscious  of  the  least  direct  unfairness  towards  himself  in 
the  dealings  of  the  highly  resourceful  Anglo-Portuguese.  As 
my  brother  (though  in  some  ways  extremely  heedless  and 
lax  in  spending  money)  was  always  keenly  alive  to  his  own 
interests  in  acquiring  it,  and  not  at  all  the  man  to  be  long 
hoodwinked  by  anybody,  and  was  in  his  later  years  more 
than  duly  suspicious  of  various  persons,  this  testimony  to  the 
fair  dealing  of  Mr.  Howell — considerably  decried  in  life  and 
after  death — should  in  justice  not  be  lost  sight  of. 


STAY  AND   WORK   AT   KELMSCOTT,    1 872-4.  325 

It  may  be  as  well  to  add  (without  entering  into  many 
details)  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  business-connexion 
between  Howell  and  Rossetti,  the  former  had  a  partner  or 
quasi-partner,  Mr.  John  R.  Parsons,  who  was  a  relative  of 
our  old  family  friends  the  Keightleys.  Mr.  Parsons,  a  very 
pleasant  young  gentleman,  had  a  financial  backer  who  re- 
mained unknown  to  both  Howell  and  Rossetti,  and,  owing 
to  some  dispute,  mainly  fomented  or  dictated  by  this  backer, 
about  an  early  Proserpine  picture  which  my  brother  had 
forwarded  for  sale,  the  transactions  with  Mr.  Parsons  came 
to  an  end  pretty  soon,  but  left  quite  unaffected  the  transactions 
with  Mr.  Howell  individually. 

Very  few  things  produced  by  Rossetti  came  so  near  to 
satisfying  him  as  the  Proserpine,  in  those  two  versions  (not 
including  the  one  just  mentioned)  which,  in  my  other  volume, 
Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  as  Designer  and  Writer,  I  have  termed 
Nos.  3  and  4.  The  latter  was  sold  to  Mr.  Leyland,  and  the 
former  to  Mr.  W.  A.  Turner.  Mrs.  Morris,  the  ideal  sitter 
for  such  a  subject,  posed  for  the  head.  Proserpine,  in  perfect 
beauty  shadowed  with  doom,  is  represented  holding  the 
pomegranate  of  which  she  had  eaten  in  Hades,  thereby 
unknowingly  sentencing  herself  to  the  immortality  of  the 
nether  world.  A  gleam  of  light  from  the  outer  sky  strikes 
upon  the  background.  Rossetti,  as  in  several  other  instances, 
wrote  a  sonnet  for  this  picture.  It  was  first  in  Italian,  and 
then  in  English.  Great  were  the  tribulations  of  the  Proserpine 
canvases — seven  in  all,  besides  crayon-drawings.  The  first 
three  were  rejected  ;  the  fourth  had  ill-success  with  Mr. 
Parsons.  Then  my  so-called  No.  3  had  its  glass  twice 
smashed  and  renewed,  and  twice  it  was  lined  to  prevent 
accidents.  Then  No.  4  had  its  frame  smashed  twice,  its  glass 
once ;  it  was  nearly  spoiled  while  under  transfer  to  a  new 
strainer ;  and,  in  transit  to  the  purchaser,  the  glass  was  again 
much  damaged,  and  some  other  things  as  well.  Luckily  there 
was  only  a  scratch  on  the  neck  and  cheek. 

Other  works  proper  to  this  Kelmscott  period  are  :  in  oils, 
La   Ghirlandata,  a  composition   of  three   figures,  in    which 


326  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

music  is  again,  as  in  the  Veronica  Veronese,  a  principal 
element ;  The  Bower-Maiden  (or  Fleurs  de  Marie),  a  pleasing 
picture  without  ideal  quality ;  The  Blessed  Damozel  (begun 
in  1873,  or  even  in  1871,  but  chiefly  the  product  of  succeeding 
years  on  to  1877);  Dante's  Dream — the  smaller,  but  still 
large,  replica  for  Mr.  Graham,  after  that  gentleman  had  parted 
with  the  original  work— was  planned  out  by  Mr.  Dunn  at 
Chelsea  while  Rossetti  was  at  Kelmscott,  but  all  the  painter's 
own  work  upon  this  canvas  belongs  to  a  later  date — a  double 
predella  is  added  to  the  replica  only  ;  The  Roman  Widow 
(or  Dis  Manibus),  a  lady  in  a  mortuary  chamber,  playing 
on  two  harps.  In  water-colour  there  was  nothing  of  leading 
importance.  In  crayons  or  coloured  chalk,  Ligeia  Siren, 
a  portrait  of  Mr.  Theodore  Watts,  and  that  (one  of  our 
illustrations)  of  my  wife  Lucy  Brown,  to  whom  I  was 
married  in  March  1874.  Some  of  these  works  have  been 
mentioned  before  in  another  connexion.  I  will  now  only 
say  that  La  Ghirlandata  is,  more  obviously  than  usual,  a 
picture  having  some  symbolic  intention,  which  different 
minds  may  be  disposed  to  interpret  differently ;  and  that 
The  Roman  Widow  seems  to  me  quite  unsurpassed,  amid 
my  brother's  work,  for  pathetic  sweetness  and  beautiful 
simplicity.  If  he  painted  one  supremely  loveable  picture, 
it  is,  I  think,  The  Roman  Widow — even  in  preference  to  the 
Beata  Beatrix  or  The  Beloved. 

As  to  poetry,  Rossetti  produced  scarcely  anything  in  this 
term  of  about  two  years.  I  could  only  name  the  sonnets  on 
the  Proserpine  and  on  Winter.  Painting  kept  him  busy,  along 
with  correspondence,  and  sometimes  personal  colloquy,  rela- 
ting to  the  painting  affairs.  He  brought  out  the  re-cast  of  his 
old  Italian  translations,  Dante  and  his  Circle  ;  thought,  at  the 
beginning  of  1873,  of  publishing  a  new  volume  of  original 
poems,  but  finally  decided  that  these  were  not  as  yet  suffi- 
ciently numerous  ;  and  projected  a  translation  of  all  Michel- 
angelo's poems,  but  never  made  a  real  commencement  with 
this.  Some  one  has  invidiously  said  that  Rossetti  was  "  snuffed 
out    by   an    article."     Byron    used    this    phrase   erroneously, 


STAY   AND   WORK   AT   KELMSCOTT,    1 872-4.  327 

though  at  that  date  excusably,  about  Keats  ;  but  in  relation 
to  Rossetti  it  is  obviously  untrue.  We  here  see  that,  within  a 
few  months  after  the  Contemporary  article  had  been  re-issued 
as  a  pamphlet,  he  was  seriously  thinking  of  publishing  a  new 
volume  of  poems,  and  he  did  in  fact  publish  one  in  1881. 
The  author  of  The  White  Ship  and  The  King's  Tragedy  was 
not  exactly  snuffed  out,  whether  critically  or  morally,  whether 
by  an  article  or  by  a  libel. 

I  will  add  a  word  or  two  here  about  certain  "  Nonsense- 
verses  "  scribbled,  or  more  generally  extemporized  and  recited, 
by  Rossetti.  A  few  of  them  must  have  got  into  print  here 
and  there.  In  Mr.  Scott's  book  four  or  more  are  inserted  (one 
at  least  of  these  being  pitiably  mauled  by  a  hand  and  ear  less 
correct  at  rhythm  than  Rossetti's).  Mr.  Scott  remarks  as 
follows  : — 

"  The  habit  of  making  satirical  rhymes  like  these  [two  staves  by 
Hueffer  which  had  been  cited]  was  an  outcome  of  the  appearance 
of  Lear's  Book  of  Nonsense.  D.  G.  R.  began  the  habit  with  us,  the 
difficulty  of  finding  a  rhyme  for  the  name  being  often  the  sole 
inducement.  Swinburne  assisted  him,  and  all  of  us  ;  and  every  day 
for  a  year  or  two  they  used  to  fly  about." 

This  practice  may  have  commenced  with  Rossetti,  I 
suppose,  towards  1864  or  1865,  and  may  have  lasted  up  to 
1874,  but  hardly  beyond  that.  He  produced  scores  of  these 
Nonsense-verses,  with  the  greatest  ease  ;  many  of  them  just 
about  as  good  as  such  things  can  be  made.  Now  and  again 
one  or  other  of  them  flits  fitfully  through  my  mind.  If 
nobody  preserved  a  goodish  string  of  them,  it  is  a  pity. 
Possibly  Mr.  Swinburne's  miraculous  verbal  memory,  if  he 
cared  to  exercise  it  on  such  a  trifle,  would  recover  many  of 
Rossetti's  stanzas,  and  also  of  those  which  other  nimble- 
witted  heads  produced,  his  own  included.  My  brother  was, 
I  think,  the  best  of  all  for  odd  ear-catching  spontaneity. 
One  of  those  given  by  Mr.  Scott  is  a  curious  rhyming  ingeni- 
osity.  It  relates  to  a  young  poet  (his  name  by  this  date  better 
remembered  than  his  works)  whom  Rossetti  knew  and  liked 


328  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

well,  and  whose  abilities  he  esteemed  ;  so  of  course  the  rhyme, 
for  all  its  grotesqueness,  is  not  in  the  least  ill-natured  in 
intention.  I  cite  the  lines  as  they  appear  in  Mr.  Scott's  book, 
but  (even  apart  from  the  meaningless  substitution  of  the 
word  "  checkboard  "  for  "  chessboard  ")  am  not  sure  of  their 
entire  verbal  accuracy  :• — 

"  There's  the  Irishman  Arthur  O'Shaughnessy — 
On  the  chessboard  of  poets  a  pawn  is  he ; 
Though  bishop  or  king 
Would  be  rather  the  thing 
To  the  fancy  of  Arthur  O'Shaughnessy." 

In  another  instance  a  lady's  Christian  name,  Olive,  was 
named  to  my  brother,  and  he  was  defied  to  rhyme  to  that. 
Quick  as  lightning  came  the  response,  much  to  the  following 
effect : — 

"  There  is  a  young  female  named  Olive — 
When  God  made  her  he  made  a  doll  live  "  etc. 

But  Rossetti  admitted  that  this  was  just  a  rhyme,  and  not 
an  accurate  description  of  the  lady,  to  him  (it  may  or  may 
not  be)  unknown. 

Though  my  brother  was  on  the  whole  extremely  well 
when  he  settled  at  Kelmscott  in  1872,  and  only  a  little  beset 
— hardly  perturbed— by  those  fanciful  ideas  of  widespread 
animosities  and  conspiracies  etc.  which  had  been  so  marked 
at  the  close  of  the  spring  and  during  the  summer,  he  relapsed 
after  a  while,  and  I  assume  that  chloral  was  again  mainly 
conducive  to  this  unfortunate  result.  In  May  1874  Dr.  Hake 
told  me  that,  according  to  his  son  George,  Rossetti  exhibited 
signs  of  faintness  sometimes  after  a  walk  or  any  exertion. 
When  my  wife  and  I  visited  him  for  a  few  days  in  the  early 
summer  of  that  year,  we  perceived  that  he  was  once  more 
troubled  with  suspicions  of  servants  and  other  persons,  and 
by  no  means  exempt  from  disquieting  symptoms.  Mr.  Scott 
has  seen  fit  to  publish  an  anecdote  relating  to  a  slightly 
earlier  date,  arid  I  will  here  extract  it ; — 


STAY  AND   WORK   AT   KELMSCOTT,    1 872-4.  329 

"On  19  April  1874  I  received  these  words  by  post:  'My  dear 
Scotus,  I  am  likely  to  be  needing  ,£200  in  a  few  days,  and 
happen  unluckily  at  this  moment  to  be  run  rather  dry.  Could 
you  manage  to  lend  it  me  ?  and  if  so  to  oblige  me  with  a  cheque  at 
once  ? '  Knowing  his  affairs  to  be  prosperous  at  the  time,  I  could 
not  view  this  request  with  composure.  He  was  living  quietly  at 
Kelmscott ;  but  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  my  duty  as  his 
friend  to  keep  his  mind  easy.  Accordingly  by  next  post  the  cheque 
was  dispatched.  By  next  again  it  came  back  to  me  in  a  note,  saying 
he  had  'just  received  some  money,  and  he  returned  my  cheque  no 
less  thankfully  than  if  he  had  needed  it.'  He  had  by  that  time  lost 
nearly  every  old  friend  save  myself.  Did  he  now  suspect  that  I  was 
among  his  enemies,  and  had  he  done  this  to  try  me  ?  I  fear  this 
semi-insane  motive  was  the  true  one." 

Throughout  April  1874  I  was  abroad,  and  necessarily  I 
knew  nothing  of  what  was  happening  between  Scott  in 
London  and  my  brother  at  Kelmscott.  Even  had  I  been  in 
London,  I  might  probably  have  remained  alike  uninformed. 
I  cannot  therefore  elucidate  this  matter  unless  by  conjecture. 
To  me  it  seems  abundantly  probable  that  at  some  time  in 
April  my  brother  found  occasion  for  some  such  amount  as 
,£200,  and  had  it  not  at  his  immediate  disposal  ;  and  that  he 
acted  bond  fide  in  asking  Scott  for  the  sum,  which  Scott  very 
liberally,  though  as  he  shows  reluctantly,  sent.  My  brother, 
it  seems,  returned  the  cheque  forthwith,  on  the  alleged  ground 
that  he  had  meanwhile  received  money  from  another  quarter. 
This  was,  in  itself,  an  unobjectionable  and  even  a  laudable 
proceeding.  Moreover  the  alleged  ground  seems  so  likely 
that  one  might  hardly  have  expected  a  different  surmise  to 
be  put  forward  in  reference  to  a  "  dear  friend."  And  again, 
if  the  dear  friend  was  really  so  stricken  as  to  be  "  semi- 
insane,"  his  conduct  might  have  been  construed  more  in 
sorrow  than  in  anger.  That  Rossetti  had  then  "  lost  nearly 
every  old  friend "  save  Mr.  Scott  is  a  gratuitous  and  an 
incorrect  statement.  There  were  Brown,  Stephens,  Hughes, 
Seddon,  Boyce,  Lowes  Dickinson,  Tebbs,  John  Marshall, 
Jones,  Morris,  Peter  Paul  Marshall,  and  Howell — not  to  cast 


330  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

about  for  others.  But  it  may  well  be  that  Scott  was  more 
likely  than  some  of  these  to  have  ready  money  available,  and 
he  was  the  oldest  friend  of  all. 

Mr.  Scott — I  have  more  than  once  had  occasion  to  say  and 
to  prove  it — was  extremely  shaky  in  his  dates.  If  it  so 
happens  that  not  19  April,  but  9  or  10  April,  was  the  real 
date  of  Rossetti's  first  letter,  there  is  a  coincidence  regarding 
money  which  seems  to  come  particularly  pat.  On  10  April 
Mr.  Leyland  (I  possess  his  letter)  sent  Rossetti  a  sum  of 
£200  on  account  of  The  Roman  Widow  ;  and  this  sum  must 
(assuming  my  conjecture  to  be  accurate)  have  reached  him  just 
about  the  same  time  as  Scott's  cheque  for  the  like  amount. 
Of  course  I  cannot  affirm  that  Mr.  Scott  made  here  any  such 
mistake  as  to  the  date,  but  I  can  scarcely  help  regarding  it  as 
the  reverse  of  improbable. 

Immediately  after  detailing  this  matter  of  the  cheque 
Mr.  Scott  proceeds  as  follows  : — 

"  A  very  short  time  after,  he  suddenly  left  Kelmscott  for  altogether, 
having  got  into  a  foundationless  quarrel  with  some  anglers  by  the 
river,  unnecessary  to  describe." 

This  is  correct.  I  never  knew  with  much  precision  the 
details  of  the  quarrel  referred  to,  but  understand  it  to  have 
been  much  on  this  wise.  My  brother  was  taking  a  riverside 
stroll  along  with  George  Hake,  and  saw  a  party  of  three  or 
four  anglers.  He  fancied  that  they  called  out  to  him  in  an 
insulting  way ;  which  was  either  a  morbid  mis-hearing  of 
something  which  they  really  said,  or  perhaps  an  actual 
physical  delusion.  Ireful,  impetuous  as  usual,  and  now  totally 
reckless  of  probable  consequences,  Rossetti  ran  up  to  the 
anglers,  and  with  vigorous  abuse  retorted  upon  the  supposed 
insult.  Mr.  Hake  had  to  follow  as  fast  as  he  could,  and, 
offering  whatever  explanation  came  uppermost,  parted  the 
antagonists.  The  anglers  could  not  fail  to  be  astonished  ; 
rumours  of  the  strange  outburst  began  to  circulate ;  and 
Rossetti  found  that  Kelmscott  had  ceased  to  be  a  place  of 
comfort   for   him,    and    had   become   or    would    rapidly   be 


LONDON   AND   ELSEWHERE,    1 874-8.  33 1 

becoming  a  hotbed  of  discomfort.  So  he  returned  to  London 
and  Cheyne  Walk  towards  the  latter  end  of  July.  He  never 
again  set  his  foot  in  Kelmscott  Manor-house. 


XXXVI. 

LONDON  AND  ELSEWHERE,  1874-8. 

I  AM  now  getting  on  towards  the  end  of  the  life  of  that  man 
of  astonishing  genius,  ardent  initiative,  vigorous  and  fas- 
cinating personality,  abundant  loveableness,  many  defects, 
and  in  late  years  overclouded  temperament  and  bedimmed 
outlook  on  the  world,  whom  it  was  once  my  privilege  to  call 
brother.  I  wish  to  present  a  true  picture  of  him  to  the 
reader.  This,  not  an  easy  task  even  in  the  case  of  a  far  more 
ordinary  man,  is  truly  difficult  when  one  has  to  deal  with  so 
complex  a  personage — one  who,  with  so  much  height  and 
depth,  combined  so  many  excesses  of  feeling,  inequalities  of 
impression,  and  discords  of  act.  In  some  previous  instances 
Mr.  Bell  Scott's  book  has  served  to  determine  what  is  the  least 
favourable  light  in  which  the  proceedings  of  Dante  Rossetti 
can  be  viewed.  I  will  again  have  recourse  to  it  for  opening 
the  present  Section,  which  will  chiefly  concern  my  brother's 
condition  of  health  mental  and  physical,  and  his  demeanour 
in  that  connexion. 

No  sooner  has  Mr.  Scott  disposed  of  the  incident  of  the 
anglers  at  Kelmscott  than  he  continues  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

"  He  sent  for  me  [on  re-settling  in  Cheyne  Walk].  I  found  him 
quiet  and  taciturn.  He  only  said  the  change  would  do  him  good. 
From  that  time,  till  now  that  I  write  this,  he  has  lived  within  the 
house,  never  even  going  into  the  street,  never  seeing  any  one." 

This  turn  of  phrase  makes  it  obvious  that  Mr.  Scott  was 
writing  at  some  date  during  Rossetti's  lifetime ;  and  the 
ensuing  reference  to  Mr.  George  Hake  suggests  that  the  date 
was  not  very  long  after  the  parting  of  my  brother,  January  1877, 


332  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

from  that  gentleman.  Now  it  is  totally  untrue  that  Rossetti, 
between  July  1874,  when  he  returned  to  London  from 
Kelmscott,  and  some  time  in  1877,  never  went  into  the  street. 
It  is  quite  correct  that  he  did  not  go  to  and  fro  in  the  streets, 
in  a  casual  sort  of  way,  to  any  extent  worth  mentioning  ;  but 
he  went  out  constantly — I  believe  only  occasionally  missing 
a  day — in  the  late  evening.  His  habit  was  to  enter  a  fly  from 
his  own  door  with  George  Hake,  and  drive  up  to  some  airy 
spot,  very  often  the  Circles  of  Regent's  Park.  There  he  got 
out,  took  a  longish  walk  with  his  companion,  and  then  re- 
entered the  fly,  and  drove  home.  I  am  far  from  saying  that 
this  was  a  wholly  rational  proceeding,  or  that  it  did  not  bespeak 
a  certain  exaggerated  craving  for  seclusion  ;  but  it  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  "  living  within  the  house,  and  never  going 
even  into  the  street."  Besides,  as  we  shall  see,  there  were 
three  absences  in  the  country,  two  of  them  of  considerable 
duration,  in  1875,  76,  and  77.  Mr.  Scott's  addendum,  "never 
seeing  any  one,"  is,  in  its  literal  sense,  at  least  as  incorrect  as 
the  other  statement  about  house  and  street.  I  suppose  how- 
ever that  the  real  meaning  is  that  Rossetti  never  went  now  to 
other  people's  houses  to  see  them.  Even  this  is  not  absolutely 
accurate  ;  but  it  approaches  towards  accuracy,  and  with  this, 
from  our  present  author,  we  may  count  ourselves  content. 

It  deserves  some  consideration  moreover  that  the  habit  of 
walking  out  in  the  late  evening,  and  not  in  the  day,  was  not 
altogether  a  novelty  with  Rossetti,  brought  on  by  that  general 
change  of  feeling  which  resulted  from  the  Buchanan  pamphlet 
of  1872.  There  is  a  letter  of  his  to  Mr.  Shields,  24  Decem- 
ber 1869  (published  in  The  Century-guild  Hobbyhorse,  No.  16), 
which  says  that  he  was  then,  in  fine  weather,  in  the  practice 
of  taking  long  walks  in  Battersea  Park,  "  whereas  my  habit 
had  long  been  to  walk  only  at  nights,  except  when  in  the 
country."  This  habit,  bad  as  it  was  in  hygiene,  can  easily  be 
accounted  for.  He  rose  late  ;  painted  all  day  as  long  as  light 
served  him  ;  then  dined  ;  and,  whether  winter  or  summer,  all 
was  darkness  tempered  by  gaslight  or  moonlight  by  the  hour 
he  left  the  house. 


LONDON   AND   ELSEWHERE,    1 874-8.  333 

Scott  proceeds  : — 

"  Holman  Hunt,  Woolner,  and  other  artists,  had  left  him  long 
ago  ;  now  Swinburne  and  Morris  were  not  to  be  seen  there.  Even 
Dr.  Hake  deserted  him,  feeling  aggrieved  by  his  patient  and  long- 
suffering  son  George  being  driven  away  after  several  years'  sacrifice. 
The  old  Doctor  would  see  him  no  more." 

About  Hunt  and  Woolner  I  have  already  said  something  ; 
but  to  speak  of  "  other  artists "  who  "  had  left "  Rossetti, 
without  referring  to  Madox  Brown,  who  continued  to  see  him 
with  all  the  olden  affection  and  much  the  same  as  the  olden 
frequency  (so  far  as  his  calls  in  Cheyne  Walk  were  concerned), 
is,  to  say  the  least,  an  omission.  There  were  others  also — 
especially  Shields  when  in  London- — and  other  details  could  be 
added  substantially  diminishing  the  force  of  what  Scott  says 
about  artists  ;  but  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  this,  nor  upon  the 
poets  Swinburne  and  Morris,  who  best  know  what  line  of  con- 
duct they  did  or  did  not  adopt.  The  allegation  that  Dr.  Hake 
"  deserted  him,"  and  "  would  see  him  no  more,"  is  not  accurate. 
He  held  aloof  for  a  while  ;  but  in  October  1878  he  himself 
told  me  that  he  had  then  recently  written  to  my  brother, 
intimating  the  continuance  of  his  friendly  feelings  ;  and  it  was 
only  because  Rossetti  replied  in  a  tone  which  (although  respon- 
sive in  cordiality)  appeared  to  the  Doctor  like  a  farewell,  that 
he  abstained  from  taking  further  steps  for  renewing  the  inti- 
macy. I  think  his  re-appearance  would  have  been  a  satisfac- 
tion, and  am  sure  it  would  have  been  a  benefit,  to  my  brother. 
In  December  1878  they  exchanged  other  friendly  notes. 

About  Mr.  George  Hake  there  might  be  a  good  deal  to 
say.  I  don't  know  what  his  "  several  years'  sacrifice " 
amounted  to.  He  was  a  young  man  without  a  profession, 
and  without  (so  far  as  I  ever  saw  or  heard)  any  definite 
expectation  of  employment  of  whatsoever  kind.  My  brother, 
at  the  opening  of  their  connexion,  liked  him  much,  found 
him  extremely  pleasant  and  accommodating,  and  ready  to 
do  whatever  came  to  hand,  and  engaged  him  as  secretary 
at  a  salary   which    I   suppose  to   be  highly  adequate  if  not 


334  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTL 

liberal,  and  which  was  punctually  paid.  Moreover  the 
residence  at  Kelmscott  was  quite  convenient  to  Mr.  George 
Hake — the  place  being  very  near  Oxford,  where  he  com- 
pleted his  academical  course  during  that  interval  of  time. 
I  will  openly  say  that  from  first  to  last  I  never  witnessed 
any  solid  ground  of  complaint  given  to  my  brother  by  Mr. 
Hake  ;  but  Dante  did  at  times,  as  the  connexion  wore  on, 
mention  circumstances  to  me  which  he  clearly  believed  to 
be  true,  and  which,  under  that  belief,  he  was  warranted  in 
taking  into  account.  That  he  was  fanciful  in  these  chloralized 
years  is  plain  ;  and  that  he  could  at  all  times  of  his  life  get 
more  angry  on  a  sudden  than  beseems  a  philosopher,  and 
comport  himself  with  more  of  abruptness  and  vehemence, 
is  also  allowed.  For  some  while  before  the  parting  came, 
he  thought  it  had  better  come  pretty  soon,  yet  continued  to 
temporize.  At  last  there  was  an  outburst,  and  the  parting 
ensued.  I,  scanning  the  matter  from  my  own  point  of  view, 
regretted  this  upshot  not  a  little.  After  a  while  irritation 
abated,  and  my  brother  met  his  late  secretary  again — at 
any  rate  in  August  1880. — But  all  this  about  Mr.  George 
Hake  is  really  a  private  affair,  and  would  not  have  appeared 
in  my  pages  at  all,  but  that  Mr.  Scott  saw  fit  to  give  it 
prominence  as  derogatory  to  my  brother. 

Mr.  Scott  next  adverts  to  that  matter,  proper  to  the  year 
1872,  about  Browning's  Fifine  at  the  Fair.  It  is  noticed  in 
Section  XXXIV.  Scott's  reference  to  it  is  exaggerated  in 
expression,  but  that  need  not  detain  us.  One  sentence  is  the 
reverse  of  the  fact — viz.,  "  Browning,  as  his  manner  was, 
had  never  acknowledged  Rossetti's  presentation-copy  of  his 
Poems,  and  now  this  confirmed  him  to  be  among  the  enemies." 
Browning  did  acknowledge  that  presentation-copy,  and 
acknowledge  it  with  praise.  I  have  said  so  in  Section  XXXII., 
and  I  still  possess  his  letter.  Why  did  Mr.  Scott  make  this 
allegation  ?  Apparently  because  he  misremembered  a  state- 
ment, occurring  in  a  letter  from  my  brother,  August  1871, 
that  Browning  had  not  acknowledged  the  volume  of  1861, 
The   Early   Italian   Poets.     This   statement   (as   its   context 


London  and  elsewhere,  1874-8.  335 

Shows)  merely  illustrates  the  thesis  that  Browning  was  hostile 
to  all  translating  work  ;  but  one  phase  of  Mr.  Scott's  inner 
consciousness  certified  him  that  his  "  dearest  of  friends  and 
most  interesting  of  men  " *  was  a  remarkably  flabby  creature, 
and  so  he  introduced  this  random  assertion.  It  might  indeed 
be  contended  that  the  allegation  that  Browning  did  not  reply 
as  to  the  Poems  does  not  convey  any  imputation  upon 
Rossetti  ;  but  it  conveys,  and  appears  aimed  to  convey, 
the  imputation  that  Rossetti's  delusive  notion  about  Browning 
and  Fifine  was  the  outcome  of  wounded  vanity,  occasioned 
by  the  non-acknowledgment  of  the  recent  volume. 
I  continue  quoting  : — 

"  Only  two  quite  new  men  were  now  to  be  seen  about  him.  One 
was  William  Sharp,  a  poet  to  be ;  the  other,  Theodore  Watts,  who, 
being  professionally  a  lawyer,  managed  everything  for  him,  and  who 
was  just  then  beginning  to  write  criticisms  in  the  weekly  papers,  so 
was  looked  upon  by  poor  D.  G.  R.  as  doubly  important.  Happily 
Watts  has  been  invaluable  since  then  in  many  ways ;  fascinated  by 
Rossetti,  ill  as  he  was,  and  always  ready  and  able  to  serve  him." 

In  this  passage  Madox  Brown — not  to  speak  of  any  one 
else — is  again  ignored.  The  designation  of  date  comes  in 
the  word  "  now "  in  the  opening  sentence,  and  one  does 
not  know  what  the  "  now  "  may  have  been.  The  suggestion 
that  Mr.  Sharp  was  frequently  with  Rossetti  by  the  date 
when  Mr.  Watts  "  was  just  beginning  to  write  criticisms  in 
the  weekly  papers  "  appears  to  me  erroneous.  But,  consider- 
ing that  "  poor  D.  G.  R  "  is  duly  pitied  by  Mr.  Bell  Scott,  and 
Mr.  Watts  duly  praised,  one  may  excuse  this. 

Then  comes  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter  of  the  Autobio- 
graphical Notes  : — 

"  For  myself,  Rossetti  had  been  the  last  of  a  succession  of  men 
I  had  loved,  and  had  tried  to  make  love  me.  For  each  of  them  I 
would  have  given  all  but  life,  and  I  was  again  defeated  by  destiny. 
Equal  candour  and  confidence  he  never  had  to  give ;  but  now  his 

1  Scott's  Illustrations  to  the  King's  Quair,  p.  19. 


336  bANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

singular  manias  made  ordinary  friendly  intercourse  impossible  to 
him.  After  having  been  both  his  banker  and  his  nurse,  I  could  not 
depend  upon  him  either  in  action  or  word.  Still  I  remained  faithful 
to  the  old  tie,  and  Miss  Boyd  agreed  in  doing  so  also.  We  con- 
tinued our  occasional  visits,  either  morning  or  evening,  the  only  two 
of  all  his  old  circle." 

All  this  seems  (so  far  as  its  diction  is  concerned)  to 
relate  to  the  same  period  when  Mr.  Watts  was  "just  begin- 
ning "  etc. ;  and,  if  so,  it  is  monstrous  to  say  that  Miss  Boyd 
and  Scott,  to  the  exclusion  of  Brown,  were  "  the  only  two  of 
all  his  old  circle."  It  is  however  true  that  Brown  did  not 
see  Rossetti  for  some  while  at  the  close  of  1877,  and  during 
1878  and  a  part  of  1879  ;  and  in  August  1881  he  settled  in 
Manchester,  and  the  two  old  friends  could  barely  meet  again 
some  two  or  three  times.  Mr.  Scott  disparages  Rossetti's 
"  candour  and  confidence  "  at  all  times  of  their  intimacy,  and 
later  on  "  could  not  depend  upon  him  either  in  action  or 
word."  As  to  the  candour  and  confidence,  I  question  whether 
Rossetti  showed  any  deficiency  in  these.  He  was  cordial,  out- 
spoken, and  in  fact  far  too  communicative  of  matters  which, 
affecting  others  as  well  as  himself,  he  ought  to  have  kept 
locked  up  in  his  own  breast.  His  public  letters  to  Mr.  Scott 
have  an  air  of  great  frankness  and  bonhomie  joined  with 
affection.  And,  as  to  the  statement  that  Mr.  Scott  "  could 
not  depend  on  him  either  in  action  or  word,"  I  may  observe 
that  Scott's  letters  to  Rossetti,  of  which  several  belonging  to 
this  period  are  extant  in  my  hands,  do  not  indicate  any  want 
of  such  dependence — they  have  the  external  marks  of  free 
interchange  of  thought  and  information  upon  such  subjects 
as  came  uppermost.  It  is  indeed  true  that  my  brother 
continued  liable  to  morbid  fancies  and  needless  suspicions, 
and,  in  relation  to  these,  he  must  often  have  propounded  as 
fact  something  which  was  only  supposition  on  his  part,  and 
unfounded  supposition. 

I  have  now  done  with  this  passage  in  Scott's  book  ;  and 
can  only  regret  having  had  to  point  out  so  much  of  mis- 
statement and  over-statement  in  the  writing  of  a  thoughtful 


LONDON    AND   ELSEWHERE,    1 874-8.  337 

man,  of  many  fine  gifts  and  feelings,  upon  his  "  dearest  of 
friends,"  whom  he  knew  moreover  to  be  in  some  respects  an 
invalid,  and  thus  one  to  whom  indulgence  might  have  been 
an  acquaintance's  duty  and  an  old  familiar's  prerogative. 

In  these  years  the  state  of  my  brother's  health,  his  spirits, 
and  his  mental  impressions  upon  particular  points,  was 
frequently  unsatisfactory,  though  there  were  rallies  in  respect 
both  of  physical  well-being  and  of  cheerfulness.  Mr.  Watts 
was  certainly  much  oftener  with  him  than  any  one  else, 
serving  to  keep  him  in  tone,  and  endlessly  helpful  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  I  regret  to  say  that  I  myself  saw  my  brother  but 
little— living  at  the  other  end  of  London,  occupied  with 
official  work  all  day,  and  commonly  with  literary  work  in  the 
evening,  recently  married,  and  with  growing  family-ties  of  my 
own.  Towards  the  end  of  1875  Rossetti  felt  a  great  need  of 
changing  from  London  and  its  associations.  He  went  to 
Bognor,  renting  a  house  named  Aldwick  Lodge,  and  here  he 
remained  till  about  the  end  of  June  1876.  He  was  constantly 
occupied  in  painting  at  Aldwick  Lodge,  and  received  there 
several  friends,  and  most  of  the  members  of  his  family.  No 
doubt  my  wife  and  I  would  have  gone  likewise  at  some  time, 
but  there  was  a  baby,  and  also  a  nurse  ;  and  my  brother 
expressly  said  (the  question  arose  in  November  1875)  that  he 
would  not  house  the  nurse.    Dr.  Hake  speaks  of  the  Lodge  as 

"  a  commodious  villa  and  grounds,  in  a  lane  west  of  the  town, 
and  near  to  the  roughest  bit  of  beach  on  the  Sussex  coast.  The 
villa  had  good  rooms.  Upstairs  was  a  gallery,  with  bedchambers  on 
both  sides,  and  ending  in  a  large  apartment  which  became  a  studio." 
In  the  afternoons  Rossetti  "  took  a  violent  walk  [his  pace  was 
always  a  resolute  and  rather  quick  one]  over  the  boulders  by  the  sea 
towards  Selsey  Bay,  among  the  ruined  wooden  groynes  which  had 
become  sea-weed  gardens,  hideous  of  aspect,  as  if  invented  and  laid 
out  by  fish  made  man." 

Dr.  Hake  holds  that  Rossetti  took  no  heed  of  the  scene  ; 
whereas  another  writer1  (I  cannot  say  an  authority)  assumes 

1  Mrs.  Wood. 
VOL.   I.  22 


338  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

that  he  now  first  took  pleasure  in  the  sea  and  sea-walks.  I 
hardly  know  why  this  should  be  affirmed — he  had  from  of  old 
known  such  places  as  Boulogne,  Hastings,  and  Clevedon — 
but  it  is  true  that,  whether  at  Bognor  or  elsewhere,  he  indulged 
in  sea-trips  scarcely  at  all.  As  he  was  a  very  qualmy  sailor, 
sea-sickness  assailed  him  with  great  virulence  and  perti- 
nacity. 

During  Rossetti's  stay  near  Bognor  a  libel-case  was  going 
on  in  London,  Mr.  Buchanan  suing  Mr.  Peter  Taylor,  then 
proprietor  of  The  Examine}'.  Rossetti  was  not  in  the  faintest 
degree  concerned  in  writing  or  prompting  any  of  the  matter 
charged  as  libellous  ;  but  this  matter  involved  in  part  an 
attack  upon  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Buchanan  in  relation  to 
his  article  in  the  Contemporary  Review.  My  brother  was 
extremely  desirous  of  avoiding  all  sort  of  intermixture 
in  this  trial,  and  that  may,  I  think,  have  been  one  reason 
why  his  stay  at  Aldwick  Lodge  was  so  prolonged.  He 
returned  to  Chelsea  almost  as  soon  as  the  trial  was  over. 
Let  me  add,  in  fairness  to  Mr.  Buchanan,  that  the  jury 
agreed  with  him  in  considering  he  had  been  libelled,  and  they 
gave  him  damages  to  the  amount  of  ^150.  Whether  they 
were  right  or  wrong  is  a  question  I  can  leave  alone. 

Hardly  had  my  brother  returned  to  London  when  he  went 
to  Broadlands  in  Hampshire,  staying  there  for  the  better  part 
of  the  month  of  August.  Broadlands  was  the  seat  of  the 
Right  Honourable  William  Cowper-Temple  and  his  wife  (soon 
afterwards  Lord  and  Lady  Mount-Temple).  The  husband 
had  some  years  previously  become  the  owner  of  Rossetti's  pic- 
ture of  Beata  Beatrix,  now  in  the  National  Gallery.  Of  the  pro- 
fuse kindness  which  he  received  in  this  mansion,  and  of  his 
ardent  admiration  of  his  host  and  hostess,  more  especially  the 
latter,  his  Family-letters  bear  ample  record.  Here  he  met 
Mrs.  Georgina  Sumner,  a  lady  mentioned  in  Section  XXVII. 
Mrs.  Sumner  also  became  a  greatly  attached  friend  of  his,  and 
favoured  him  in  London  with  sittings  for  some  of  his  works. 
Rossetti  was  not  at  all  well  at  Broadlands ;  suffering  from 
pains  in  the  limbs  (which  recurred  at  intervals  afterwards), 


LONDON   AND   ELSEWHERE,    1 874-8.  339 

and  from  "  nights  of  utter  unrest."  His  spirits  however 
improved.  I  apprehend  that  this  flitting  to  Broadlands — 
highly  satisfactory  though  it  proved  in  some  respects — would 
not  have  been  undertaken,  but  for  the  fact  that  my  brother 
was  now  having  some  alterations  effected  in  his  studio.  He 
heard — or  imagined — objectionable  noises  from  an  adjoining 
house  ;  and  he  got  the  room-wall  near  the  fireplace  doubled, 
and  the  space  filled  in  with  thick  wadding.  Mr.  Watts  and 
Mr.  Dunn  attended  to  this  cumbrous  job,  while  Rossetti  along 
with  George  Hake  was  at  Broadlands.  The  adjoining  house 
was  occupied  by  a  musician,  Mr.  Malcolm  Lawson,  and  some 
members  of  the  family — Malcolm  being  a  brother  of  the 
distinguished  young  landscape-painter  Cecil  Lawson.  I 
have  always  had  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Lawsons  and 
their  associates  were  perfectly  well  affected  to  my  brother, 
and  would  indeed  have  been  proud  to  cultivate  intercourse 
with  him  ;  but  he  did  not  think  so,  and  fancied  that  there 
was  a  large  and  frequent  amount  of  unnecessary  noise  from 
that  house  and  its  small  grounds,  audible  both  in  his  studio 
and  in  his  garden,  and  annoying,  and  intended  to  annoy,  him. 
I  remember  there  was  once  a  thrush  hard  by,  which,  to  my 
hearing,  simply  trilled  its  own  lay  on  and  off.  My  brother 
discerned  a  different  note,  and  conceived  that  the  thrush 
had  been  trained  to  ejaculate  something  insulting  to  him. 
Such  is  perverted  fantasy — or  I  may  rather  infer  such  is 
an  outcome  of  chloral-dosing. 

Returned  from  Broadlands,  Rossetti  was  constrained  by 
medical  orders  to  face  two  nights  without  any  chloral  at 
all  ;  and  soon  he  tried  mesmerism,  with  a  result  of  better 
nights  and  no  pain  in  the  limbs.  A  Miss  Chandos  appears 
to  have  been  the  mesmerist,  associated  with  Mr.  Chandos 
Leigh  Hunt,  a  relative  of  the  poet-essayist. 

I  must  now  recur  to  that  matter  which  I  have  mentioned 
before  (Sections  XXIX.  and  XXXIV.)  of  an  inconvenience 
from  which  my'brother  suffered  requiring  surgical  treatment. 
This  malady — which  I  surmise  had  not  been  at  all  attended 
to  since  the  late  summer  of  1872 — came  to  a  severe  crisis  in 


340  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

the  middle  of  June  1877.  It  is  referred  to  in  an  article  which 
Mr.  Theodore  Watts  published  in  February  1895,1  and  I 
could  not  perhaps  do  better  than  borrow  his  clear  account  of 
the  incident : — 

"  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  here  a  word  about  a  certain  occasion 
in  the  year  1877  when  he  was  extremely  ill — not  from  the  effects  of 
insomnia,  but  from  a  different  cause  altogether.  He  had  for  years 
been  subject  to  a  certain  organic  disturbance  which,  though  under 
timely  and  skilful  treatment  it  is  not  considered  to  be  dangerous, 
will  become  full  of  peril,  and  will  indeed  end  fatally,  if,  in  certain  of 
its  developments,  it  is  neglected  or  treated  unskilfully.  In  1877  this 
ailment  took  a  somewhat  serious  form.  Yet  our  friend  the  eminent 
surgeon  John  Marshall  was  not  greatly  alarmed,  knowing  that, 
should  it  occur  that  the  symptoms  did  take  an  aggravated  turn,  he 
had  but  to  perform  a  surgical  operation  in  order  to  give  relief. 
This  operation  however  was  one  of  great  delicacy,  and  the  aggra- 
vated symptoms  necessitating  it  were  apt  to  come  on  suddenly. 
Marshall  therefore  left  instructions  with  the  housekeeper  that,  should 
Rossetti  seem  to  be  suffering  from  an  accession  of  illness,  she  was  to 
take  a  cab,  and  go  at  once  to  him  at  Savile  Row.  The  symptoms 
did  come  on  quite  suddenly ;  but,  as  Rossetti  was  determined  that 
he  would  undergo  no  operation  save  in  my  presence,  the  house- 
keeper, obeying  his  commands  (which  were  always  given  with  a 
Napoleonic  imperiousness),  came  to  me  at  Putney,  instead  of  going 
straight  to  the  doctor.  On  reaching  Cheyne  Walk,  and  seeing  (as 
I  thought)  that  a  serious  rupture  of  internal  blood-vessels  had  taken 
place,  I  went  to  Marshall,  and  at  once,  and  fortunately  found  him 
in.  My  description  of  the  state  of  things  alarmed  him.  We  called 
for  a  chloroformist,  and  drove  off  to  Cheyne  Walk  as  fast  as  possible. 
The  operation  was  performed  with  all  Marshall's  usual  skill,  but 
afterwards  Rossetti  fell  into  a  state  of  the  greatest  weakness.  I  sent 
for  his  unfailing  friend  Madox  Brown  to  consult  with  Marshall,  who 
advised  that  Rossetti  should  be  taken  to  the  seaside.  Heme  Bay, 
as  being  near  to  London,  was  the  place  selected,  and  thither  he  was 
taken  by  Brown — or  rather  to  a  little  place  called  Hunter's  Forestall. 
In  a  very  little  time  Mrs.  Rossetti,  Christina,  and  myself,  went  down 
to  Heme  Bay,  and  found  Gabriel  in  a  lamentable  state  of  depression." 

1  Recollections  of  Christina  Rossetti,  printed  in  The  Nineteenth  Century. 


LONDON   AND   ELSEWHERE,    1 874-8.  34I 

I  have  only  a  few  remarks  to  make  in  amplification  of  this 
narrative.  Although  it  is  entirely  true  that  this  upset  had  no 
direct  connexion  with  insomnia,  still  Mr.  Marshall  informed  me 
at  the  time  that  the  heavy  doses  of  chloral  retarded  recovery 
from  the  operation,  and  he  once  more  urged  that  they  should 
be  reduced  ;  and  at  the  seaside  they  gradually  were  reduced, 
standing  at  30  or  40  grains  instead  of  180.  But  the  notion  of 
leaving  it  off  entirely  was  what  Rossetti  would  not  entertain. 
He  wrote  to  Brown,  and  not  without  a  certain  show  of  reason  : 

"  The  fact  is  that  any  man  in  my  case  must  either  do  as  I  do,  or 
cease  from  necessary  occupation,  which  cannot  be  pursued  in  the 
day  when  the  night  is  stripped  of  rest  altogether." 

The  "Napoleonic  imperiousness"  is  a  good  descriptive  phrase 
of  Mr.  Watts  ;  yet  it  should  be  understood  that  there  was 
always  about  as  much  of  good-nature  as  of  command  in  my 
brother's  address  to  servants  and  dependants,  and  he  was 
throughout  life  a  prime  favourite  with  all  such  people.  They 
would  have  done  for  him  much  more  through  liking  than 
for  most  other  men  through  subservience.  Two  full  months, 
with  a  hired  nurse  in  the  house,  elapsed  between  the  operation 
and  the  departure  from  London  ;  and  it  was  only  on  16  August 
that  Brown  and  I  succeeded  in  almost  forcing  Dante  into 
Brown's  house,  and  thence  on  the  following  day  he  proceeded 
with  his  old  friend  to  Heme  Bay  itself — Hunter's  Forestall, 
as  being  more  peaceful  and  retired,  coming  two  or  three  days 
afterwards.  The  nurse  remained  with  him  all  the  while,  only 
leaving  when  my  brother  returned  to  town  on  8  November. 
Even  after  reaching  his  seaside  retreat  (at  which  Mr.  Shields 
also  was  a  visitor  for  a  time)  Rossetti  was  for  a  good  while 
incapable  of  doing  a  stroke  of  designing-work,  and  greatly 
feared  that  he  would  never  be  a  painter  again.  At  last  the 
power  and  the  determination  returned  simultaneously  ;  he 
drew  an  admirable  crayon-group  (head  and  shoulders)  of  our 
mother  and  sister,  two  others  equally  good  of  the  latter,  and 
yet  another  of  our  mother.  Weather  had  been  favourable, 
spirits  and  energy  revived,  and  he  came  back  to  town  nerved 


342  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

once  more  for  the  battle  of  art  and  of  life.  Mr.  Marshall 
declared  that  he  looked  ten  years  younger.  It  may  be  noted 
that,  in  a  letter  to  Brown  from  Hunter's  Forestall,  my  brother 
said  : — 

"  I  attribute  any  possible  improvement  to  my  having  greatly 
diminished  my  wine;  I  now  may  almost  say  that  I  take  none  in 
daytime/and  much  less  at  night." 

It  must  have  been  during  my  brother's  stay  at  Hunter's 
Forestall  that  he  wrote  a  note  to  Mr.  Dunn  asking  him  to 
collect  together  all  the  letters  lying  about  in  various  receptacles 
in  the  studio  at  Chelsea, 

"  and  lock  them  in  the  iron  safe  outside  the  studio.  The  unaccount- 
able wholesale  disappearance  of  large  batches  of  letters  some  time 
back  renders  this  more  advisable." 

This  is  an  odd  detail ;  and  gives  me  occasion  to  say  that, 
though  my  brother  was,  in  his  later  years,  unreasonably  sus- 
picious of  various  persons  and  things,  some  matter  did  never- 
theless really  occur  now  and  again  which  suggested  serious 
tampering  with  his  concerns,  and  called  for  corresponding 
vigilance.  I  do  not  recollect — possibly  I  never  heard — about 
the  "  wholesale  disappearance  "  etc.  My  brother,  all  through 
his  life,  received  very  large  numbers  of  letters,  and  at  his  death 
comparatively  few  were  to  be  found,  belonging  chiefly  to  his 
last  eight  or  nine  years.  I  think  that  on  leaving  Chatham 
Place  he  burned  almost  all  the  then  extant  correspondence. 
In  a  later  instance,  which  may  have  been  towards  1 871,  he  got 
Christina  to  destroy  huge  bundles  of  letters  which  had  again 
accumulated.  This  was  quite  in  her  line,  for  she  always 
burned,  with  the  fewest  exceptions,  every  scrap  of  writing  that 
she  ever  received.  I  cannot  but  regard  with  great  regret  the 
loss  of  all  the  early  correspondence  of  the  P.R.B.  days,  which 
would  serve  towards  setting  in  its  true  light  that  movement 
of  not  less  than  historical  importance  in  the  British  School  of 
Art. 

I  must  recur  a  little  to  the  pitiable  subject  of  chloral.     Mr. 


By  D.  G.  Rossetti. 


Christina   G.  Rossetti. 


LONDON   AND  ELSEWHERE,    1 874-8.  343 

Marshall,  Rossetti's  principal  medical  adviser,  was  not  one  of 
those  doctors  who  think  it  desirable  to  traverse  beyond  a 
certain  point  the  wishes  and  settled  habits  of  their  patients  ; 
although  it  is  most  true  that  he  earnestly  and  repeatedly 
endeavoured  to  check  and  diminish  the  chloral-dosing.  A 
letter  of  his,  in  July  1876,  intimates  that  Sir  William  Jenner 
then  tried  to  reduce  Rossetti's  chloral  to  20  grains  a  night ; 
but  Marshall  thought  this  too  restrictive,  and  sanctioned  36, 
or  in  exceptional  cases  even  48,  grains.  In  April  1878  Mr. 
Dunn  informed  me  that  my  brother  was  then  taking  about 
50  grains,  besides  keeping  his  usual  late  hours,  and  limiting 
his  walking  to  his  own  garden — a  practice  which  may  I  think 
have  begun  soon  after  his  return  from  Hunter's  Forestall,  and 
which  continued  with  hardly  any  interruption  ever  afterwards. 
In  January  1879  the  chloral  was  92  grains,  and  had  recently 
been  even  more.  In  November  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Marshall 
wrote  that  Messrs.  Bell  &  Co.,  the  chemists,  had  protested 
against  supplying  twelve  bottles  of  chloral  every  eight  or  nine 
days  ;  on  the  previous  day  they  had  sent  two  bottles,  and 
would  henceforth  make  it  only  one  per  day.  In  this  decision 
Mr.  Marshall  concurred  ;  and  he  pointed  out  to  Rossetti  that, 
as  Mr.  Dunn  had  then  temporarily  left  the  Chelsea  house,  and 
his  regulating  influence  was  thus  withdrawn,  it  became  all  the 
more  imperative  to  limit  the  supply  of  the  drug.  My  brother 
obtained  chloral  chiefly  from  two  firms,  Messrs.  Bell  and 
Messrs.  Dinneford.  At  his  death  their  outstanding  bills  came 
in  to  me.  I  forget  the  exact  amounts,  but  am  probably  not 
far  wrong  in  saying  that  the  two  together  reached  well  on 
towards  ,£100  !  This  was  for  some  months,  ending  in  the 
middle  of  December  1881.  Chloral  was  then,  at  length,  totally 
abolished,  and  was  never  resumed. 

The  episode  of  Hunter's  Forestall  produced  one  unfortunate 
result — a  passing  interruption  to  the  intimate  personal 
relations  between  Madox  Brown  and  Rossetti.  Brown 
thought  that  Rossetti  was  extravagant  and  heedless  in  house- 
hold matters ;  and  so  he  was,  though  he  made  various 
attempts  at  control  and  retrenchment,  in  which  Mr.  George 


344  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Hake,  and  more  especially  Mr.  Dunn,  seconded  him  to  the 
best  of  their  power.  Brown  therefore,  at  the  seaside,  recom- 
mended Rossetti  to  dismiss  his  two  female  servants.  There 
had  recently  been  also  a  man  named  Albert  (succeeding 
various  other  men  of  earlier  years),  but  he,  I  fancy,  had  left 
soon  after  the  nurse  came.  My  brother  reflected  upon 
Brown's  advice,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  his  then 
female  servants  suited  him  well  enough  (which  was  also  my 
own  opinion),  and  he  therefore  declined  to  part  with  them. 
Brown  took  this  in  some  dudgeon,  and  determined  not  again 
to  call  in  Dante's  London  house  while  those  servants  were 
there.  He  told  me  he  "would  not  be  made  the  laughing- 
stock of  all  London " — which  I  could  not  but  regard  as  a 
very  exaggerated  view  of  the  interest  which  Londoners  would 
or  could  take  in  any  phase  of  the  incident ;  but  my  honoured 
father-in-law  was  at  all  times  rather  sensitive  to  the  actual  or 
supposed  opinion  of  "  the  world."  Brown  therefore,  upon  my 
brother's  return  to  London,  re-appeared  for  a  while  no  more. 
Ultimately  those  servants  were  gone,  and  others  re-placed 
them.  This  may  have  been  towards  August  1879  ;  and  it  was 
only  then  that  he  offered  to  return — receiving  the  cordial 
response,  "  You  would  of  course  have  been  most  welcome  all 
along,  and  will  be  simply  the  same  now."  No  further 
coolness  ensued  between  the  two  old  friends,  and  I  am  clear 
that  in  this  instance  my  brother  had  not  put  himself  in  the 
wrong. 

For  some  time  past — ever  since  his  health  revived  in 
Scotland  in  1872 — Rossetti  had  been  entertaining  projects 
of  leaving  his  Chelsea  house,  and  finding  accommodation  < 
somewhere  else  in  the  outskirts  of  London.  He  required 
premises  of  good  size,  with  a  proper  studio,  spacious  grounds, 
retired  situation,  and  none  the  less  convenient  access  to  and 
from  the  heart  of  London.  House  after  house  was  pro- 
pounded and  inspected — generally  by  Dunn  or  George  Hake. 
None  of  them  met  all  the  rather  exceptional  requirements. 
So  at  last,  in  January  1878,  Rossetti  determined  to  renew  his 
tenancy  of  Tudor  House,  though  at  double  his  original  rent — 


LONDON   AND   ELSEWHERE,    1 874-8.  345 

i.e.,  at  ,£200  per  annum,  and  with  the  warning  that  sooner 
or  later  his  fine  garden  would  for  the  most  part  be  built  over. 
Even  £200  was  in  fact  not  a  very  high  rent,  considering  the 
great  rise  in  the  value  of  property  in  that  neighbourhood. 

In  the  years  1874  and  1876  two  deaths  occurred  which 
afflicted  my  brother  very  sensibly. 

The  first,  5  November  1874,  was  the  decease  of  Oliver 
Madox  Brown,  not  yet  aged  twenty.  Rossetti  had  for  years 
entertained  the  highest  opinion  of  the  genius  and  the  future 
of  this  surprising  youth,  whether  as  painter  or  as  novelist, 
and  even  in  part  as  poet.  Pyaemia  attacked  him  from  some 
unascertained  cause,  and  he  died  after  several  weeks  of  acute 
suffering.  I  need  scarcely  say  that  my  brother  was  foremost 
among  those  who  came  forward  to  soothe,  so  far  as  might, be, 
the  anguish  of  the  heart-stricken  father  and  family.  I  can 
recollect  that,  on  receiving  a  few  lines  of  sympathy  from  my 
brother  in  the  first  hours  of  bereavement,  Brown  said  to  me, 
"  It  is  always  Gabriel  who  speaks  the  right  word." 

It  is  however  an  untoward  fact  that,  when  Oliver's 
posthumous  writings  were  published  in  1876,  Rossetti,  then 
at  Aldwick,  received  such  a  "  painful  impression  "  from  some- 
thing he  read  in  them  that  he  laid  the  book  aside  altogether. 
He  must  have  thought  that  some  character  or  incident  in  the 
work  was  intended  to  animadvert  upon  himself.  What  this 
was  I  never  knew.  To  press  my  brother  upon  such  a  topic 
was  not  judicious;  "the  less  said  the  better."  I  doubt 
whether  there  is  in  the  book  anything  even  distantly  involving 
my  brother.  There  might  have  been,  for  Oliver  did  avowedly 
base  one  or  two  of  his  personages  upon  individuals  of  his 
acquaintance.  Whatever  his  feelings  about  the  young 
novelist's  performance,  or  about  the  spirit  in  which  he  had 
written,  my  brother  did  not  cease  to  speak  highly  of  his 
gifts.     This  is  apparent  in  Mr.  Hall  Caine's  book. 

•  The  second  death  was  that  of  our  sister  Maria,  on 
24  November  1876,  aged  forty-nine.  Maria  was  intensely 
devotional  —  I  think  more  warmly  and  spontaneously  so  than 
any  other  person  I  have  known.     She  had  long  contemplated 


346  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

finishing  her  days  as  a  member  of  an  Anglican  sisterhood — 
the  All  Saints'  Home  in  Margaret  Street,  Regent  Street. 
When  my  approaching  marriage  was  notified  in  the  summer 
of  1873,  she,  considering  herself  to  be  thus  freer  than  before 
from  family-ties,  announced  that  she  would  no  longer  defer 
her  project.  She  became  a  novice,  and  later  on  a  professed 
sister.  She  had  before  this,  in  1871,  published  one  book 
of  no  little  merit  and  repute,  A  Shadow  of  Dante,  considered 
very  mainly  from  the  religious  point  of  view.  In  the  Home 
she  was  treated  with  all  kindness  and  consideration,  and 
she  delighted  beyond  measure  in  the  religious  life ;  but  her 
health  soon  grew  uncertain,  and  by  the  middle  of  September 
1876  it  became  apparent  that  she  was  not  long  to  survive. 
There  was  an  internal  fibroid  tumour,  with  dropsical  com- 
plications. Her  severe  sufferings  were  borne  with  more  than 
resignation  and  fortitude — almost  with  rapture,  for  to  her 
the  promises  of  religion  were  the  most  assured  certainties — 
the  only  perfectly  assured  ones.  With  Dante,  and  also 
with  myself,  she  had  more  than  one  earnest  colloquy  on 
religious  subjects  as  the  end  approached.  On  29  November 
we  all  attended  her  funeral,  as  a  "  Sister  of  the  Poor,"  in 
Brompton  Cemetery.  This  was,  since  the  death  of  my  father 
in  1854,  the  first  gap  in  the  Rossetti  household.  The  next 
was  to  be  the  death  of  Dante  himself  in  1882,  followed  by 
my  mother  in  1886,  and  by  Christina  in  1894.  There  were 
also  my  own  losses — an  infant  son  in  1883,  and  in  1894  my 
wife.  Between  1854  and  1876  there  had  been  three  deaths 
in  the  Polidori  family — Philip  in  1864,  Margaret  in  1867, 
Henrietta  Polydore  (my  uncle's  daughter)  in   1874. 

XXXVII. 

INCIDENTS  AND   TRANSACTIONS,    1874-81.— HALL   CAINE. 

After  my  brother's  return  from  Kelmscott  to  London  in  1874 
one  of  the  first  matters  which  engaged  his  attention  was  the 
dissolution  of  the  partnership,  Morris,  Marshall,  Falkner, 
&  Co.     The  firm  was   by  this  time  fully  established  as  of 


/ 


INCIDENTS   AND   TRANSACTIONS,    1 874-8 1.  347 

high  mark,  but  it  was  not  yet  a  flourishing  commercial  con- 
cern. Mr.  Morris,  as  I  have  said  from  the  first,  was  in  every 
sense  the  leading  partner,  the  one  who  devoted  most  time 
and  energy  to  the  work,  and  the  one  who  had  invested  most 
money  in  it.  He  now  thought  that  he  would  like  to  be  sole 
master  in  the  house  ;  not  indeed  discarding  his  old  associates 
so  far  as  they  might  see  fit  to  continue  furnishing  appropriate 
work  for  pay,  but  no  longer  dividing  with  them  the  actual 
profits  of  the  firm.  All  the  others  had  their  own  professions, 
and  consequent  incomes.  Mr.  Morris  had  no  other  definite 
profession — only  his  admirable  work  as  a  poet.  In  this  view 
of  the  affair  most  of  his  partners  concurred — Burne-Jones, 
Webb,  Falkner,  and  my  brother.  Peter  Paul  Marshall  might, 
after  the  first  impulse  of  irritation,  be  regarded  as  nearly 
neutral.  Madox  Brown  however  was  a  determined  opponent. 
He  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  forego  advantages  already 
secured  to  him.  He  was  getting  on  in  years,  with  a  wife  and 
son  to  support ;  he  had  always  calculated  upon  the  firm  as 
an  important  eventual  accession  to  his  professional  earnings  ; 
and  he  had  no  notion  either  of  retiring  voluntarily,  or  of  being 
bought  out  unless  under  compulsion.  Circumstances  were 
too  strong  for  him,  and  he  was  bought  out,  receiving  a 
handsome  sum.  The  affair,  both  at  the  time  and  for  some 
years  ensuing,  was  a  painful  one  to  the  friends  of  Brown  and 
of  Morris.  I  am  glad  to  leave  it  undetailed,  apart  from  the 
one  point  which  immediately  concerns  my  narrative — and  that 
is  that  my  brother's  attitude  was  always  one  of  conciliation, 
and  a  wish  to  adjust  contending  claims,  had  that  but  been 
possible.  He  himself  retired  from  the  firm  without  desiring 
any  compensation  for  his  own  benefit.  A  sum  was  however 
assigned  to  him.  He  laid  it  apart  for  the  eventual  advantage 
of  a  member  of  the  Morris  family,  but,  ere  his  death,  circum- 
stances had  induced  him  to  trench  upon  it  not  a  little. 

There  is  a  small  matter,  detailed  in  Mr.  Bell  Scott's  book, 
which  I  would  rather  not  have  seen  in  print  at  all,1  but  which, 

1  Professor  Minto,  the  Editor  of  Mr.  Scott's  book,  rightly  and  necessarily 
asked  me,  before  going  to  press,  whether  I  would  authorize  the  insertion 


348  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTL 

being  in  print,  must  not  be  left  unnoticed  here.  Mr.  Scott 
summarizes  a  letter  which  my  brother,  being  then  at  Aldwick 
Lodge,  addressed  to  Miss  Boyd  on  3  November  1875.  The 
letter  relates  to  various  topics  having  no  connexion  with  that 
which  appears  in  its  postscript,  and  which  is  thus  put  by 
Mr.  Scott:— 

"  In  a  postscript  he  says  he  is  forced  to  reopen  his  letter  to  tell 
what  he  designates  a  wondrous  tale.  Some  four  years  ago  G.  F. 
Watts,  R.A.,  painted  a  head  of  him,  for  which  he  only  gave  that 
artist  two  sittings,  and  which  remained  unfinished.  His  impression 
of  it  was  appalling  (though  possibly  from  the  exactness  of  its  like- 
ness), and  people  have  ever  since  kept  telling  him  it  was  horrible. 
Accordingly  he  executed  a  coup  de  main.  He  finished  a  spare 
chalk-drawing,  and  sent  Dunn  with  it  to  Little  Holland  House 
[Mr.  Watts's  then  residence],  sending  also  a  note  saying  that  he 
should  be  very  much  obliged  if  Watts  would  make  an  exchange, 
as  he  wanted  the  picture,  not  for  himself,  and  that  the  bearer  would 
call  next  day  at  same  time  for  it,  to  save  trouble.  '  This  resulted," 
he  continues,  '  in  my  getting  the  picture  next  day,  though  Watts's 
note  with  it  showed  plainly  that  it  was  even  as  a  tooth  out  of  his 

of  certain  letters  by  my  brother.  He  sent  me  copies  of  the  letters,  which 
I  read  attentively.  I  cancelled  a  few  sentences  or  phrases,  and  returned 
the  copies  to  Professor  Minto,  fully  assenting  to  the  publication  of  what 
remained.  When  the  published  book  reached  me,  I  was  surprised  to 
see  in  it  this  statement  by  my  brother  about  his  portrait  painted  by 
Mr.  G.  F.  Watts.  It  appeared  to  me  that  one  of  two  things  was  certain  : 
first  and  most  probable,  that  this  passage  had  not  been  included  in  the 
copy-letters  sent  to  me ;  second,  that,  if  it  had  been  so  included,  I  must 
have  marked  it  for  excision.  The  fact  is  that  this  is  one  of  the  instances 
in  which  Mr.  Scott  does  not  quote  a  letter  verbatim,  but  summarizes  the 
contents  of  a  letter,  merely  citing  between  inverted  commas  two  or  three 
of  its  clauses.  He  thus  cites,  for  instance,  the  clause  beginning  "  This 
resulted  in  my  getting"  etc.  I  infer  therefore  that  Professor  Minto  did 
not  regard  this  as  a  letter  over  which  I  had  copyright  authority,  and  so 
did  not  send  me  a  copy  of  it — failing  to  reflect  that  I  had  such  authority 
over  (at  any  rate)  those  passages  which  are  cited  between  inverted  commas. 
Admitting  this  explanation,  the  Professor  (on  whose  memory  I  would  not 
willingly  cast  any  reproach)  only  committed  a  venial  oversight.  On  any 
other  assumption,  his  error  would  be  a  somewhat  grave  one. 


INCIDENTS   AND   TRANSACTIONS,    I  874-8 1.  349 

jaws.1     Now  that  I  have  got  it,  I  really  think  it  very  fine,  and  am 
quite  ashamed  to  have  played  him  such  a  trick.' " 

My  brother's  contrition  may  count  for  something  in  ex- 
tenuation of  his  trick — which  consisted  in  obtaining  from  the 
highly-distinguished  painter  a  portrait  (in  reality  painted 
towards  the  summer  of  1870)  which,  I  presume,  had  been 
all  along  intended  by  its  author  to  stand  as  Rossetti's  property 
in  case  he  liked  to  claim  it,  and  in  tendering  as  equivalent 
a  chalk-drawing,  which  one  may  suppose  to  have  been  of 
considerably  less  commercial  value.  Most  likely  the  reader, 
in  perusing  this  item  of  Mr.  Scott's  book,  infers  also  that  my 
brother  told  a  positive  lie  in  saying  that  "  he  wanted  the 
picture,  not  for  himself?  This  however  is  not  the  case.  It 
is  within  my  express  knowledge  that  my  brother  did  not 
retain  the  portrait  beyond  a  certain  interval,  but  consigned 
it  to  the  person  whom  I  have  heretofore  designated  as 
Mrs.  H.  It  never  returned  to  his  own  possession,  and  formed 
no  part  of  the  estate  which  passed  under  his  will.  In  1883, 
after  my  brother's  death,  it  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy,  not  by  any  member  of  the  family ;  and  the 
exhibitor  afterwards  sold  it  to  Mr.  Leyland,  with  whose 
collection  it  was,  I  assume,  disposed  of  some  years  later.  I 
heartily  wish  that  my  brother  had  not  "  played  such  a  trick," 
prompted  by  the  erroneous  impression  that  the  portrait  did 
him  very  scanty  justice  ;  but  one  must  not  imagine  that  the 
trick  was  a  veritable  fraud.  It  was  something  between  sharp 
practice  and  a  boyish  prank. 

My  brother's  business-connexion  with  Mr.  Howell  became 
less  necessary  after  his  return  to  London  ;  towards  the  close 
of  the  summer  of  1876  it  ceased,  and  all  acquaintance  with 
the  vivacious  Anglo-Portuguese  ceased  at  the  same  time. 
Dante  spoke  to  me  on  this  subject  more  than  once.  His 
grounded  complaint  against  Mr.  Howell  was  not  that  the 
latter  had  directly   wronged  him  in  any  money-transaction, 

1  This  seems  to  be  a  humorous  exaggeration.  I  possess  Mr.  Watts's 
letter,  and  do  not  discern  in  it  what  my  brother  speaks  of. 


350  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

but  that  he  played  fast  and  loose  with  his  name  in  a  manner 
which  my  brother  found  exceedingly  embarrassing,  and  which 
might  easily  produce  complications  of  a  formidable  kind. 
Howell  would  go  to  a  person  known  both  to  himself  and  to 
Rossetti,  and  would  obtain  funds  from  that  person,  offering  as 
security  or  equivalent  certain  drawings  by  Rossetti  which, 
according  to  Howell,  were  already  due  to  him  for  money 
disbursed.  Mr.  Valpy  was  more  particularly  affected  by  these 
Howellian  manoeuvres,  and  Mr.  Clarence  Fry,  who  became 
the  purchaser  of  my  brother's  picture  named  Venus  Astarte. 
Rossetti  thus  found  himself  liable  to  be  called  upon  by  the 
third  party  to  hand  in  drawings  which  he  had  never  engaged 
to  the  applicant,  which  he  had  no  wish  to  deliver  to  him,  and 
which  perhaps  were  not  due,  as  individual  specimens,  even 
to  Howell  himself.  Such  a  position  of  risk  and  uncertainty 
was  intolerable  to  Rossetti,  who  liked  to  have  full  control 
over  his  own  affairs.  There  was  also,  in  February  1876,  a 
most  vexatious  affair  in  which  a  Mr.  Levy  intended  to  sue 
Howell  for  some  matters,  including  a  dress  which  (for  artistic 
purposes)  had  passed  into  Rossetti's  hands ;  and  Rossetti, 
though  wholly  uninvolved  in  the  real  cause  of  action,  chose, 
rather  than  appear  in  the  witness-box,  to  pay  a  sum  of  £\o 
to  Levy.  Soon  afterwards  he  parted  company  with  Howell, 
and,  spite  of  some  pleadings  from  his  old  acquaintance,  and 
some  remains  of  good-will  on  his  own  part,  he  adhered 
unwaveringly  to  this  resolve.     They  met  no  more. 

In  August  1878  my  brother  found  that  a  drawing  attributed 
to  him  had  been  bought  at  the  shop  of  a  London  pawnbroker 
and  art-dealer,  and  that  other  drawings  of  like  character  were 
obtainable  at  the  same  place.  The  first-named  work  was 
submitted  to  him  for  verification.  He  saw  it  to  be  spurious, 
and  wrote  to  the  Times  to  say  so.  There  were  other  instances, 
both  during  his  lifetime  and  after  his  death,  in  which  pro- 
ductions to  which  he  had  never  lifted  a  finger  were  put 
forward  as  being  his.  I  will  not  lay  any  blame  on  Mr. 
Howell  which  is  not  proved  to  pertain  to  him — -he  is  no 
longer  here  to  defend  himself;  but   it  is  a  fact  (previously 


INCIDENTS   AND   TRANSACTIONS,    1 874-8 1.  35  I 

stated)  that  he  was  an  ingenious  facsimilist,  and  there  was  a 
lady  of  his  acquaintance,  known  to  my  brother  likewise,  who 
was  a  capable  artist  ;  and  many  persons  have,  within  my 
knowledge,  formed  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  imita- 
tion-Rossettis  had  their  origin  in  that  quarter.  Certain  it 
is  that  a  good  deal  of  misdirected  activity  was  displayed  by 
some  person  or  persons  working  in  this  line. 

I  have  more  than  once  referred  to  the  handsome  scale  of  my 
brother's  professional  earnings.  In  1879  and  1880  the  picture- 
market  was  depressed,  as  well  as  some  other  markets  ;  and 
these  were  two  of  his  least  successful  years.  He  told  me 
that  in  1879  his  income  had  been  .£1,030,  whereas,  two  or 
three  years  before,  it  might  be  estimated  at  £3,000  per 
annum.  However,  even  £1,030  is  far  from  being  greatly 
amiss  ;  and  he  took  such  fluctuations  placidly,  without  allow- 
ing them  to  add  in  any  serious  degree  to  his  general  tone  of 
disquietude. 

The  death  of  two  friends,  and  the  painful  condition  of  a 
third,  engaged  his  sympathy  and  attention.  James  Hannay, 
his  old  intimate  towards  1850,  died  suddenly,  as  British 
Consul  at  Barcelona,  in  1873  (this  was  indeed  while  Rossetti 
was  settled  at  Kelmscott) ;  and  a  subscription  was  got  up  for 
the  advantage  of  the  family,  and  more  especially  the  educa- 
tion of  the  children.  My  brother  was  one  of  the  most  liberal 
contributors,  and  was  anxious  to  exert  himself  outside  the 
limits  of  the  subscription.  John  Lucas  Tupper,  the  friend  of 
the  P.R.B.  and  Germ  days,  died  in  1879,  as  Master  of  the 
Drawing-classes  in  Rugby  School.  Here  again  Rossetti  came 
forward.  James  Smetham,  from  being  the  most  industrious 
as  well  as  the  most  devout  of  painters,  sank  into  a  state  of 
religious  monomania,  and  was  totally  withdrawn,  not  only 
from  the  pursuit  of  his  profession,  but  from  almost  every  form 
of  human  intercourse.  This  lasted  for  several  years,  until 
death  came  to  his  relief.  Rossetti  took  endless  pains  in 
promoting  the  sale  of  his  pictures,  and  succeeded  in  adding  a 
substantial  sum  to  the  funds  needed  by  the  highly  estimable 
and  woe-stricken  family.     It  is  no  more  than  justice  to  my 


352  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

brother  to  say  that  in  any  matter  of  this  description  his 
conduct  was  marked  by  sympathetic  open-handedness  in  the 
first  place,  and — hardly  less  valuable — by  genuine  delicacy  of 
method  and  by  the  most  thorough  good-nature.  Long  ago 
did  the  character  of  the  "  cheerful  giver  "  obtain  the  highest 
form  of  praise. 

Rossetti  was  urgently  invited  to  become  an  exhibitor  in 
the  first  year  of  the  Grosvenor  Gallery  in  Bond  Street,  1 877. 
He  reflected  on  the  proposal,  conferred  with  Madox  Brown 
and  Burne-Jones,  and  finally  declined.  Brown  likewise  de- 
clined ;  Burne-Jones,  as  we  all  know,  assented,  and  rapidly  and 
rightly  established  a  splendid  reputation.  Rossetti  was  now  a 
painter  of  eminent  performance  and  repute,  about  whom  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  public  curiosity,  and  on  these  grounds 
of  course  had  the  invitation  been  based.  He  replied  in  a  tone 
of  great  modesty,  as  shown  by  a  draft-letter  now  before  me : — 

"What  holds  me  back  is  simply  the  lifelong  feeling  of  dissatis- 
faction which  I  have  experienced  from  the  disparity  of  aim  and 
attainment  in  what  I  have  all  my  life  produced  as  best  I  could." 

He  found  occasion  to  write  a  letter  to  the  Times  in  the 
same  strain,  27  March  1877.  There  might  be  a  good  deal 
to  say  on  this  general  subject.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
Rossetti,  being  a  painter  with  high  ideals  in  art,  and  an 
earnest  desire  to  work  in  conformity  to  those  ideals,  was 
not  contented  with  what  he  actually  produced,  He  knew 
it  to  be  good  and  skilful  up  to  a  certain  point ;  but  there 
was  a  loftier  point  to  which  his  ideal  and  his  conception 
reached,  and  which  his  hand  had  not  reached.  Few  successful 
men  would  so  ingenuously  confess  this  to  themselves,  still 
less  to  others.  Dissatisfied  with  the  result  himself,  Rossetti 
thought  that  some  other  people  would  be  dissatisfied  also, 
and  would  make  some  ado  in  proclaiming  their  dissatisfaction  ; 
and,  having  undergone,  with  profound  disrelish  and  permanent 
ill-effect,  the  inconveniences  of  a  hullabaloo  in  relation  to 
his  poetry,  he  had  no  wish  to  encounter  the  like  in  relation 
to  his  painting.     The  fact  is  (as   I  have  already  intimated) 


INCIDENTS   AND   f RANSACTioNS,    1874-81.  35J 

that  Rossetti  had,  along  with  a  great  deal  of  pride,  only  a 
very  small  modicum  of  vanity  or  self-conceit,  and,  until  his 
closing  years,  I  might  almost  say  not  any.  On  his  aspirations 
he  relied  implicitly;  on  his  performances — such  as  they  were, 
and  seeing  that  no  better  they  might  be — he  rested.  Fame 
he  cherished  ;  for  notoriety  he  cared  not.  That  his  name 
and  his  doings  should  be  champed  in  the  mouths  of  men  w^s 
not  among  his  desires.  He  apprehended  that,  while  any 
shortcoming  would  be  made  much  of  by  critics  and  spectators, 
the  intrinsic  and  somewhat  esoteric  deservings  of  the  work 
would  be  overlooked  or  belittled.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten 
that  in  all  his  later  years  he  had  a  serious  though  fitful 
intention  of  collecting  together  on  exhibition  such  specimens 
of  painting  and  designing  as  he  considered  to  come  nearest 
to  doing  justice  to  his  powers.  He  was  a  man  who  thought 
a  great  deal  about  "  policy "  in  all  such  contingencies  ;  and 
very  generally  his  views  of  policy  were  sound,  as  the  event 
proved.  In  such  a  relation  he  did  not  regard  anything  as 
trivial,  or  deserving  to  be  left  to  chance.  It  may  be  as  well 
to  add  that,  whenever  any  question  arose  of  his  exhibiting 
under  fair  or  advantageous  conditions,  my  own  wish  was 
that  he  should  consent. 

Not  only  with  the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  but  in  all  instances 
when  he  was  invited  and  pressed  to  exhibit,  sometimes  by 
owners  of  his  pictures,  my  brother  steadily  refused.  There 
was  however  one  exception,  perhaps  only  one.  Mr.  Turner, 
the  purchaser  of  one  of  the  two  leading  versions  of  the 
Proserpine  subject,  was,  in  the  spring  of  1878,  a  member  of 
a  Committee  in  Manchester  for  promoting  the  Art  Schools 
Building-fund.  He  asked  whether  my  brother  would  sanction 
the  including  of  the  Proserpine  in  an  exhibition  which  was 
being  organized  for  the  Fund  ;  and  my  brother  acquiesced, 
taking  into  consideration  "  the  public  object  in  view,  one  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  all  interested  in  Art."  A  few 
other  cases  in  which  his  works  were  exhibited  did  from  time 
to  time  occur ;  but  this  was  without  his  authority,  and 
contrary  to  his  liking.     Even  a  letter  from  Sir  Noel  Paton— ■ 

VOL.  1.  2; 


354  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTt. 

whom,  more  than  almost  any  other  man,  he  would  have  liked 
to  oblige  — could  not  extort  assent. 

Another  of  my  brother's  not  frequent  communications  to 
newspapers  was  made  on  28  December  1878.  The  matter 
is  really  a  very  small  one,  notwithstanding  the  great  rank  and 
the  personal  charm  of  the  lady  concerned.  It  is  recorded  in 
Mr.  Caine's  Recollections,  and  perhaps  it  should  not  be  left 
without  some  brief  notice  here.  Some  newspaper— I  believe 
The  World — chose  to  say  that  the  Princess  Louise,  having 
called  at  Rossetti's  house  with  a  view  to  seeing  his  pictures, 
had  been  "  rebuffed  with  a  '  not  at  home,'  and  an  intimation 
that  he  was  not  at  the  beck  and  call  of  Princesses."  I  cannot 
think  that  my  brother  was  (as  Mr.  Caine  says)  "  deeply 
moved  by  the  imputation  "  ;  but  he  very  properly  considered 
that,  being  publicly  charged  with  such  ridiculous  clownishness, 
he  ought  not  to  leave  the  falsehood  undenied.  So  he  wrote 
to  the  Times  explaining  that  the  Princess  had  never  presented 
herself  at  his  house  ;  though  she  had,  on  two  occasions  at 
some  years'  interval,  indicated  an  inclination  to  do  so,  and 
had  in  the  second  and  quite  recent  instance  been  assured, 
by  Mr.  Theodore  Watts,  to  whom  she  was  speaking,  that 
Rossetti  would  feel  "  honoured  and  charmed  to  see  her." 
Rossetti  concluded  his  letter  by  saying  :— 

"  It  is  true  enough  that  I  do  not  run  after  great  people  on  account 
of  their  mere  social  position,  but  I  am,  I  hope,  never  rude  to  them  ; 
and  the  man  who  could  rebuff  the  Princess  Louise  must  be  a 
curmudgeon  indeed." 

This  remark  defines  very  correctly  his  feeling  in  relation 
to  such  questions.  He  had  a  real  liking,  for  the  ease  and 
amenity  which  ordinarily  go  with  birth  and  breeding,  and 
to  these  he  could  respond  with  proportionate  ease,,  and  with 
an  openness  from  which  amenity  was  not  excluded  ;  but  to 
take  any  trouble  in  hunting  up  social  di-gnitaries,  or  in 
humouring  them  when  found,  was  not  at  all  his  way.  Mrs. 
Glasse's  famous  though  perhaps  legendary  recipe  did  not 
define    Rossetti's    attitude    towards  the   British   aristocracy. 


Incidents  and  transactions,  1874-81.  355 

He  neither  caught  his  hare  first,  nor  put  it  into  his  jug 
afterwards. 

To  his  account  of  this  incident  of  the  visit  which  was  not 
made,  and  the  rebuff  which  was  not  administered,  Mr.  Caine 
adds : — 

"  At  the  very  juncture  in  question  Lord  Lome  was  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  appointed  Governor-General  of  Canada,  and,  leaving 
England,  Her  Royal  Highness  did  not  return  until  Rossetti's  health 
had  somewhat  suddenly  broken  down,  and  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  see  any  but  his  most  intimate  friends." 

I  question  whether  this  is  wholly  accurate.  It  seems  to  me 
that  Lord  Lome  had  been  appointed  some  months  before 
28  December,  the  date  of  Rossetti's  letter  to  the  Times,  and 
that  the  Princess  was  already  in  Canada  before  that  date. 
She  appears  to  have  remained  well-affected  to  Rossetti's 
memory,  as  a  newspaper  paragraph  in  December  1893  Pur_ 
ported  that  she  had  sent  to  a  sale  of  ladies'  work  "a 
book-cover  for  a  volume  of  Rossetti's  Poems,  in  green  satin, 
with  a  design  of  clusters  of  pomegranates  worked  in  shaded 
pinks  and  yellows," — the  title  being  in  silver  thread. 

It  was  apparently  towards  the  beginning  of  1879  that  a 
new  intimacy  of  Rossetti's  began — that  with  Mr.  Hall  Caine — 
which  proved  of  great  moment  for  his  closing  years.  I  might 
have  more  to  say  about  it,  but  that  Mr.  Caine  has  himself 
given  so  many  and  such  precise  details  in  his  Recollections 
of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  (1882).  It  seems  that  Mr.  Philip 
James  Bailey,  the  author  of  Festus,  was  the  person,  casually 
encountered  by  Mr.  Caine,  who  first  roused  in  him  an  active 
interest  in  Rossetti's  poetry.  Mr.  Bailey  met  my  brother 
years  previously,  perhaps  at  Mrs.  Gaskell's,  but  there  was  not 
at  any  time  any  real  acquaintance  between  the  two.  Mr. 
Caine  lectured  twice  or  thrice  in  Liverpool,  where  he  then 
resided,  on  the  Poetry  of  Rossetti ;  and  after  a  full  year  sent 
him  the  printed  discourse,  with  which  my  brother  was  very 
much  pleased,  more  especially  on  the  ground  of  the  lecturer's 
recognition  of  the  moral  or  spiritual  tone  marking  the  poems. 


356  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTt. 

A  great  deal  of  correspondence  ensued,  chiefly  on  poetic  and 
other  literary  topics.  The  first  personal  meeting  was  in  the 
autumn  of  1880,  when  Mr.  Caine  came  for  a  few  days  to 
London,  and  called  by  appointment  in  Rossetti's  studio.  He 
had  been  warned  that  he  would  "  recognize  the  hole-and- 
cornerest  of  all  existences  in  this  big  barn  of  mine."  Since 
the  time  when  he  met  my  brother,  and  since  that  when  he 
published  his  Recollections,  Mr.  Caine  has  had  many  a  literary 
triumph ;  and  my  readers  will  probably  be  well  pleased  if  I 
reproduce  here  his  account  of  the  impression  which  Rossetti 
gave  him.     I  condense  and  interpolate  at  will. 

"  Very  soon  Rossetti  came  to  me  through  the  doorway  in  front, 
which  proved  to  be  the  entrance  to  his  studio.  Holding  forth  both 
hands,  and  crying  '  Hulloa,'  he  gave  me  that  cheery  hearty  greeting 
which  I  came  to  recognize  as  his  alone  perhaps,  in  warmth  and 
unfailing  geniality,  among  all  the  men  of  our  circle.  It  was  Italian 
in  its  spontaneity,  and  yet  it  was  English  in  its  manly  reserve ;  and 
I  remember  with  much  tenderness  of  feeling  that  never  to  the  last 
(not  even  when  sickness  saddened  him,  or  after  an  absence  of  a  few 
days  or  even  hours)  did  it  fail  him  when  meeting  with  those  friends 
to  whom  to  the  last  he  was  really  attached.  Leading  the  way  into 
the  studio,  he  introduced  me  to  his  brother,  who  was  there  upon 
one  of  the  evening  visits  which,  at  intervals  of  a  week,  he  was  at 
that  time  making  with  unfailing  regularity  [at  that  time,  and  at  all 
times  afterwards  while  both  Dante  and  I  were  in  London,  until  his 
final  departure  for  Birchington-on-Sea  early  in  1882  :  the  practice 
began  in  October  1879,  consequent  upon  some  few  days  of  great 
prostration  which  affected  him  after  an  overdose  of  chloral].  I 
should  have  described  Rossetti  at  this  time  as  a  man  who  looked 
quite  ten  years  older  [this  is  wholly  contrary  to  my  own  view]  than 
his  actual  age,  which  was  fifty-two ;  of  full  [slightly  low]  middle 
height  and  inclining  to  corpulence ;  with  a  round  face  that  ought, 
one  thought,  to  be  ruddy,  but  was  pale ;  large  grey  eyes  with  a  steady 
introspecting  look,  surmounted  by  broad  protrusive  brows,  and  a 
clearly  pencilled  ridge  over  the  nose,  which  was  well  cut',  and  had 
large  breathing  nostrils.  The  mouth  and  chin  were  hidden  beneath 
a  heavy  moustache  and  abundant  beard,  which  grew  up  to  the  ears, 
and  had  been  of  a  mixed  black-brown  and  auburn,  and  were  now 


INCIDENTS   AND   TRANSACTIONS,    1 874-8 1.  357 

streaked  with  grey  [my  brother's  beard  was  of  a  darkish  auburn — 
not  I  think  at  all  black-brown,  though  that  might,  in  mature  age,  be 
called  the  colour  of  his  other  hair].  The  forehead  was  large,  round, 
without  protuberances,  and  very  gently  receding  to  where  thin  black 
curls,  that  had  once  been  redundant,  began  to  tumble  down  to  the 
ears.  The  entire  configuration  of  the  head  and  face  seemed  to  me 
singularly  noble,  and  from  the  eyes  upwards  full  of  beauty.  He 
wore  a  pair  of  spectacles,  and,  in  reading,  a  second  pair  over  the 
first ;  but  these  took  little  from  the  sense  of  power  conveyed  by 
those  steady  eyes,  and  that  '  bar  of  Michelangelo.' x  His  dress  was 
not  conspicuous,  being  however  rather  negligent  than  otherwise, 
and  noticeable,  if  at  all,  only  for  a  straight  sack-coat  buttoned  at  the 
throat,  descending  at  least  to  the  knees,  and  having  large  pockets 
cut  into  it  perpendicularly  at  the  sides.  This  garment  was,  I 
afterwards  found,  one  of  the  articles  of  various  kinds  made  to  the 
author's  own  design  [and  a  most  comfortable  one  it  was].  When  he 
spoke,  even  in  exchanging  the  preliminary  courtesies  of  an  opening 
conversation,  I  thought  his  voice  the  richest  I  had  ever  known  any 
one  to  possess.  It  was  a  full  deep  baritone,  capable  of  easy  modula- 
tion, and  with  undertones  of  infinite  softness  and  sweetness,  yet, 
as  I  afterwards  found,  with  almost  illimitable  compass,  and  with 
every  gradation  of  tone  at  command,  for  the  recitation  or  reading  of 
poetry.  I  perceived  that  he  was  a  ready,  fluent,  and  graceful  talker, 
with  a  remarkable  incisiveness  of  speech,  and  a  trick  of  dignifying 
ordinary  topics  in  words  which,  without  rising  above  conversation, 
were  so  exactly  though  freely  enunciated  as  would  have  admitted 
of  their  being  reported  exactly  as  they  fell  from  his  lips.  Dinner 
being  now  over,  I  asked  Rossetti  to  redeem  his  promise  to  read  one 
of  his  new  ballads.  He  responded  readily,  and,  taking  a  small 
manuscript  volume  out  of  a  section  of  the  bookcase  that  had  been 
locked,  read  us  The  White  Ship.  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  never 
heard  anything  at  all  matchable  with  Rossetti's  elocution.  His 
rich  deep  voice  lent  an  added  music  to  the  music  of  the  verse.  It 
rose  and  fell,  in  the  passages  descriptive  of  the  wreck,  with  some- 

1  This  Tennysonian  phrase  evidently  applies  to  the  continuous  eyebrow 
of  Michelangelo.  Mr.  Caine  must  apply  it  either  to  the  "broad  protrusive 
brows  "  [eyebrows]  of  Rossetti,  which  were  not  however  continuous,  or 
to  the  "  clearly  pencilled  ridge  over  the  nose."  In  either  case  it  does  not 
seem  to  be  quite  accurately  applied. 


358  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

thing  of  the  surge  and  sibilation  of  the  sea  itself.  In  the  tenderer 
passages  it  was  soft  as  a  woman's,  and  in  the  pathetic  stanzas  with 
which  the  ballad  closes  it  was  profoundly  moving." 

I  shall  resist  the  temptation — though  it  is  considerable — 
to  extract  in  full,  and  discuss,  various  points  raised  in  Mr. 
Caine's  account  of  my  brother — such  as  his  views  on  several 
of  his  own  poems  ;  his  "grudging  Wordsworth  every  vote 
he  gets "  ;  his  deference  to  Theodore  Watts's  opinions  on 
questions  of  poetical  execution ;  his  enormous  admiration 
of  Chatterton  (this  was  only  in  his  last  years,  and  I  regarded 
it  as  not  merely  excessive  but  a  trifle  fanciful)  ;  his  favourable 
opinion  of  William  Watson  as  a  poet  then  just  beginning, 
and  his  kindly  feeling,  both  literary  and  personal,  to  Joseph 
Skipsey  the  coal-miner  poet,  and  his  good  friend  Thomas 
Dixon  the  cork-cutter  ;  his  somewhat  too  copious  contempt 
for  some  old-fashioned  poets,  "  Addison,  Akenside,  and  the 
whole  alphabet  down  to  Zany  and  Zero "  ;  his  axiom  that 
"  in  painting  there  is,  in  the  less  important  details,  some- 
thing of  the  craft  of  a  superior  carpenter "  (quite  sound,  I 
think,  though  liable  to  be  misconstrued)  ;  his  praise  of  sonnets 
by  Theodore  Watts  and  by  Bell  Scott.  There  are  a  multi- 
tude of  other  details,  all  stimulating  to  any  biographer  coming 
into  the  field  after  Mr.  Caine. 

I  cannot  agree  with  that  gentleman  in  his  strong  averment 
that  "  irresolution  with  melancholy  lay  at  the  basis  "  of  Dante 
Rossetti's  character.  That  Mr.  Caine  witnessed  in  him 
chronic  melancholy  and  frequent  irresolution  is  indeed  indis- 
putable ;  but  that  these  qualities  really  were  "  at  the  basis 
of  his  character  "  I,  from  lifelong  experience,  am  far  from 
thinking.  They  developed  in  his  later  years,  from  a  train 
of  untoward  circumstances,  viewed  through  the  fumes  of 
chloral  ;  but  I  cannot  imagine  that  anyone  who  knew  Rossetti 
either  throughout  his  career,  or  up  to  and  a  little  after  the 
age  of  about  forty,  would  have  said  that  he  was  marked  by 
irresolution  or  severely  tainted  with  melancholy.  In  all  his 
earlier   years,   and    beyond   them  too,   he   had  that   sort   of 


INCIDENTS   AND   TRANSACTIONS,    1874-81.  359 

resolution  which  fashions  a  man's  life  upon  his  own  lines, 
and  not  in  subjection  to  the  dicta  or  the  promptings  of  any 
one  else.  He  was  imperative,  dominant,  self-sustained,  and 
stiff-necked,  and  went  straight  to  his  mark.  The  sort  of 
irresolution  which  Mr.  Caine  noticed  was  concerned  with 
minor  details — whether  the  terms  of  an  appointment  should 
be  varied,  whether  he  should  adhere  to  a  project  of  going 
out  of  town,  and  much  of  the  like  kind.  No  doubt,  as  his 
nerves  and  spirits  were  unstrung,  so  was  his  will  seriously 
weakened  in  these  years  ;  still  I  should  not  call  him  even 
then  exactly  what  is  meant  by  an  irresolute  man.  As  to 
melancholy,  this  also  was  not  uppermost  in  his  less  advanced 
years.  In  any  company  in  which  he  found  himself  he  was 
generally  the  leading  spirit,  full  of  "  go,"  fertile  in  bracing 
and  diverting  sallies,  and  even  jovial  not  infrequently.  True, 
he  was  always  to  some  extent  moody,  and  liable  to  the  over- 
cloudings  of  gloom.  He  had  a  sufficiency  of  mauvais  quarts 
d'keure,  and  was  an  initiate  in  the  "  nebular  hypotheses "  of 
life.  Yet  this  did  not  amount  to  a  character  of  which  the 
basis  was  melancholy.  The  essential  quality  of  his  verse  and 
of  his  art  is,  I  conceive,  not  melancholy  but  poignancy. 
Certainly,  by  the  time  when  Mr.  Caine  knew  him  personally — 
a  period  altogether  of  about  a  year  and  a  half — these  tend- 
encies to  sadness  had  ceased  to  be  mere  tendencies,  and  had 
merged  into  a  settled  habit  of  mind — settled,  yet  not  un- 
broken ;  for  in  appropriate  company  my  brother  could  still 
command  a  variety  of  conversation,  show  cheerfulness,  and 
make  himself  highly  agreeable.  Many  a  pleasant  evening 
did  I  pass  with  him  between  the  autumn  of  1879  and  that 
of  1 88 1  ;  I  alone  mostly,  but  my  wife  was  often  with  me, 
especially  towards  the  beginning  of  the  last-named  year,  and 
he  enjoyed  her  conversation — sensible,  practical,  and  coloured 
by  high  thought  and  sympathy  in  the  pictorial  and  the 
poetic  arts.  In  the  latter  she  was  herself  a  considerable 
adept.  Dante  also  was  often  full  of  kindly  reminiscences 
from  the  old  days,  even  those  of  our  very  early  childhood. 
The  appropriate  company,  I  am  thankful  to  say,  was  not 


360  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

wanting  to  him.  Our  mother  and  Christina  took  care  to 
leave  him  not  long  unvisited  ;  and  he  never  dropped  the  habit 
of  calling  at  times  upon  them  in  the  evening — these  being 
now  the  only  occasions  when  he  left  his  house,  with  its  large 
garden,  which  gave  him  some  moderate  amount  of  daily 
exercise  after  he  had  abandoned  going  out  otherwise.  This 
strict  limitation  to  his  house  and  garden  may  have  begun 
(as  I  have  already  said)  upon  his  return  to  London  from 
Hunter's  Forestall  near  the  close  of  1877,  or  possibly  as  soon 
as  George  Hake  had  left  him,  early  in  the  same  year.  After 
Mr.  Hake  had  departed  there  was  Mr.  Dunn  in  the.  house  ; 
and,  Dunn  eventually  ceasing  to  be.  a  regular  inmate,  there 
was  Mr.  Caine.  The  latter,  upon  thus  entering  the  Cheyne 
Walk  house  in  July  1881,  did  indeed  induce  my  brother  to 
walk  out  with  him  in  the  evenings  ;  but  this  only  lasted 
a  week;  Rossetti  was  naturally  of  a  sociable  turn.  He  liked 
to  be  in  the  company  of  persons  for  whom  he  had  either  a 
serious  regard  or  a  casual  predilection  ;  and,  reclusive  though 
he  became  (after  his  return  in  1874  from  Kelmscott  to 
London)  under  the  influence  of  chloral,  with  its  exaggerated 
fancies  and  morbid  perturbations,  he  never  enjoyed  being 
alone.     He  grew  to  dislike  and  shun  it  extremely. 

"  Canst  thou  not  minister  to  a  mind  diseased — 
Pluck  from  the  memory  a  rooted  sorrow — 
Raze-out  the  written  troubles  of  the  brain, 
And  with  some  sweet  oblivious  antidote 
Cleanse  the  stuffed  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart  ? 

"  Therein  the  patient 
Must  minister  to  himself." 

But  this  was  a  patient  who  could  not  to  himself  minister 
any  oblivious  antidote — rather,  grievous  thought  after  thought, 
supposition  after  supposition  of  disquiet,  and  a  nightmare  of 
waking  dreams.  It  became  highly  desirable  therefore  that 
his  friends — and  they  were  still  by  no  means  few,  though 
Mr,  Scott    appears  to   have   supposed  that   so  they  were — 


INCIDENTS   AND   TRANSACTIONS,    1874-81.  361 

should  give  him  the  mainstay  of  their  frequent  intercourse.  I 
myself,  in  writing  to  Dante  in  August  1 876,  suggested  whether 
he  would  not  get  his  intimates,  now  one  and  now  another,  to 
call  upon  him,  so  that  each  evening  might  be  provided  with 
its  friendly  converse;  and,  when  I  began  in  October  1879 
my  regular  series  of  weekly  visits,  I  found  that  this  plan  was 
in  steady  operation.  Besides  myself,  Mr.  Watts  had  his 
appointed  evening  (and  he  very  frequently  saw  my  brother 
in  other  instances  as  well),  and  ao  had  Mr.  Shields.  The 
other  settled  visitors  were  at  that  time — if  my  memory  serves 
me — Mr.  William  Sharp,  Mr.  S.  J.  B.  Haydon,  and  perhaps 
Mr.  Scott.  Mr.  Sharp  first  came  to  my  brother  with  a  letter 
of  introduction  from  Sir  J.  Noel  Paton.  This  ensured  him  a 
welcome,  which  his  own  cordial  pleasant  ways,  and  his  gift 
for  poetry  and  other  literary  work,  amply  confirmed.  In  his 
visits  to  Rossetti  he  was  accompanied  every  now  and  then 
by  Philip  Bourke  Marston.  Mr.  Haydon  had,  towards  1850 
to  1855,  been  slightly  known  to  Rossetti  as  a  sculptor.  He 
was  now  a  dealer  in  engravings  and  other  works  of  art  ;  and 
my  brother  met  him  on  terms  of  much  familiarity,  finding  a 
good  deal  to  gossip  over  in  the  ins-and-outs  of  British  art, 
present  and  past.  Mr.  Brown  did  not,  I  think,  at  any  time 
take  part  in  this  settled  once-a-week  plan,  but  he  saw  Rossetti 
as  opportunity  allowed.  He  could  not  at  any  rate  have  joined 
in  the  plan  after  August  1881,  as  he  then  left  London,  and 
resided  in  or  near  Manchester,  to  attend  to  the  very  important 
commission  which  he  had  received — and  for  which  he  was 
better  qualified,  to  my  thinking,  than  any  other  man  in  the 
country — to  paint  the  historico-local  pictures  in  the  Man- 
chester Town  Hall,  I  have  here  mentioned  six  persons  who 
provided  Dante  with  company  for  six  days  out  of  the  seven. 
I  do  not  remember  that  there  was  any  seventh  person  regularly 
bespoken,  but  there  may  have  been,  or  the  vacant  evening 
might  very  often  be  filled  up  by  some  engagement  made  for 
the  purpose — as  for  instance  with  Boyce,  Seddon,  Tebbs, 
Burne-Jones,  Hueffer,  or  Leyland.  Another  gentleman  who 
rather  frequently  saw  my  brother,  and  was  always  welcomed. 


362  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

was  Mr.  William  Davies,  the  author  of  The  Pilgrimage  of  the 
Tiber,  and  other  works,  and  of  numerous  dainty  etchings.  He 
was  not  however  a  constant  resident  in  London.  In  1893 
Mr.  Davies  very  kindly  presented  to  me  the  letters  which  he 
had  received  from  my  brother,  forming  a  small  bound  volume. 
That  Dante  Rossetti  appreciated  his  friend's  poetry  appears 
from  a  letter  (December  1873)  in  which  he  terms  two  of  the 
compositions  "  full-toned  and  complete  things,"  a  third 
"  charming  in  structure,"  a  fourth  and  fifth  "  quite  lovely  and 
sustained  poems." 

And  so  my  brother  jogged  along,  more  than  sufficiently 
depressed  in  his  own  mind  and  feelings,  but  cheered  by 
friendly  conversation  and  attentions,  and  always  (it  must  be 
remembered)  as  diligent  in  his  art-work  as  he  had  ever  been. 
Moreover,  early  in  1880,  his  literary  activity  revived.  He  paid 
not  a  little  attention  to  the  new  edition  of  Gilchrist's  Life  of 
Blake,  and  produced  some  of  his  very  best  poetical  work.  In 
brief,  chloral  had  little  or  no  power  over  that  part  of  his  mind 
which  was  purely  intellectual  or  inventive,  but  only  over  that 
other  part  which  was  emotional,  and  was  applied  to  the 
construing  of  himself  and  his  surroundings. 


XXXVIII. 

PAINTINGS  AND  POEMS,    1874-81. 

In  Section  XXXV.  I  have  referred  to  two  of  the  pictures 
which  occupied  Rossetti  in  these  years — The  Blessed  Damozel, 
and  the  replica  of  Dante's  Dream  for  Mr.  Graham,  on  a  scale, 
though  not  small,  considerably  less  large  than  the  original 
work  ;  La  Pia,  begun  several  years  earlier  than  these,  was 
also  brought  to  completion.  It  is  probably  true,  as  stated  by 
Mrs.  Wood  (though  I  am  not  clear  where  she  got  the  infor- 
mation), that  the  predella  of  The  Blessed  Damozel,  where  the 
heart-stricken  lover  is  represented  in  a  sylvan  scene,  was 
painted  from  the  beechwoods  near  Broadlands.  This,  the 
principal  version   of   The  Blessed  Damozel  composition,  was 


PAINTINGS   AND   POEMS,    1 874-8 1.  363 

owned  by  Mr.  Graham.  A  somewhat  less  elaborate  version 
was  eventually  purchased  by  Mr.  Leyland.  The  double  pre- 
della  of  the  reduced  Dante's  Dream  was  designed  and  painted 
without  actual  recourse  to  the  living  model  ;  my  brother — 
whose  views  upon  some  questions  of  art  modified  as  he  grew 
older — having  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  treatment 
would  thus  possess  more  unity  and  self-consistency  of  design. 
The  year  1875  produced  La  Bella  Mano,  a  lady  washing 
her  hands,  attended  by  boy-Cupids  ;  and,  in  point  of  forcible, 
rich,  and  harmonious  execution,  this  may  be  regarded  as 
one  of  the  very  best  of  Rossetti's  paintings.  The  Venus 
Astarte  (or  Astarte  Syriaca)  was  going  on  from  1875  to  1877 
— a  good  deal  of  the  work  being  painted  at  Aldwick  Lodge. 
It  is  obviously  one  of  my  brother's  most  rapt  and  abstract 
works,  and  he  considered  it  (not  without  fair  grounds)  nearly 
or  quite  the  best ;  but  popular  taste  has  pronounced  other- 
wise, and  the  picture  is  regarded  as  somewhat  strained,  and 
gloomy  in  ideal  and  in  colouring.  Of  all  his  productions, 
it  was  the  greatest  money-success.  Mr.  Howell  the  not 
easily  resistible  secured  for  it  a  commission  from  Mr.  Clarence 
Fry  (of  the  Photographing  Firm)  at  the  large  price  of  £2, 100. 
Another  of  his  vigorous  strokes  was  getting  Mr.  Valpy  to 
buy,  at  its  original  price  of  £i,S7S>  the  larger  Dante's  Dream, 
after  this  had  been  resigned  by  Mr.  Graham.  It  might  almost 
be  said  that  Howell  "  planted  "  the  spacious  canvas  upon 
Valpy,  who  shortly  protested  that  so  considerable  a  venture 
did  not  suit  his  purse-strings  ;  but  the  thing  was  done,  and 
was  not  to  be  undone.  In  the  same  years,  1875  to  1877,  was 
painted  for  Mr.  Leyland  T/ie  Sea-spell,  for  which  the  title 
first  proposed  had  been  Coleridge's  couplet — 

"  A  damsel  with  a  dulcimer 
In  a  vision  once  I  saw." 

Later  on  came  the  Mnemosyne  (called  also  La  Ricordanza, 
or  The  Lamp  of  Memory) ;  a  duplicate  Beata  Beatrix,  left 
unfinished  by  Rossetti,  and  after  his  death  completed  by 
Madox  Brown  (it  is  now  in  the  Art  Gallery  of  Birmingham)  ; 


364  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

A  Vision  of  Fiammetta,  for  which  Mrs.  Stillman  was  so  good 
as  to  sit;  La  Donna  delta  Finestra  (or  The  Lady  of  Pity, 
from  the  Vita  Nuovd),  bought,  as  was  also  La  Bella  Mano, 
by  Mr.  F.  S.  Ellis  ;  and  The  Daydream,  a  lady  musing,  seated 
in  the  fork  of  a  sycamore-tree.  This,  like  the  Venus  Astarte, 
was  one  of  Rossetti's  largest  pictures,  purchased  by  an  ac- 
quaintance of  several  years'  standing,  Mr.  Constantine  Ionides. 

There  were  also  some  crayon  and  pencil  drawings — The 
Sphinx  (pencil),  where  three  men,  a  youth,  a  full  adult,  and 
a  greybeard,  are  shown  as  coming  to  consult  the  Sphinx  on 
the  mystery  of  existence — the  youth  dies  ere  he  can  put 
his  question  (the  premature  doom  of  Oliver  Brown  was  in 
the  artist's  mind  as  to  this  point)  ;  The  Spirit  of  the  Rainbow, 
which  belongs  to  Mr.  Watts,  and  illustrates  (so  Mr.  Sharp 
says)  a  sonnet  written  by  Watts  himself ;  Perlascura,  which 
was  autotyped  ;  Desdemona's  Death-song ;  Sancta  Lilias ; 
a  portrait  of  Mr.  Leyland,  as  a  wedding-present  to  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Hamilton  ;  and  the  design  of  The  Sonnet, 
illustrating  a  sonnet  of  my  brother's  on  that  form  of  poetical 
composition,  so  often  treated  by  himself.  Only  one  water- 
colour  seems  to  call  for  mention — Bruna  Brunelleschi,  which 
was  a  head  of  Mrs.  Morris,  1877. 

A  few  special  remarks  may  be  needed  regarding  these 
various  works.  The  Sea-spell  was  to  serve  as  a  pendant  to 
the  Veronica  Veronese,  already  owned  by  Mr.  Leyland,  and 
it  presents  an  inverse  to  the  motive  of  that  picture.  Veronica 
finds  in  the  note  of  a  canary  an  incentive  to  a  musical 
invention  ;  whereas  the  Siren  of  the  The  Sea-spell  charms 
a  bird  into  the  magic  of  her  lay.  The  Vision  of  Fiammetta 
exhibits  Boccaccio's  lady,  with  her  head  encircled  (as  in  that 
writer's  text)  by  a  mystical  flame,  and  parting  with  her  hand 
the  bloom-laden  boughs  of  an  apple-tree.  This  brilliant 
joyous  picture  has  proved  a  great  favourite  among  Rossetti's 
works.  In  1888  it  sold  by  auction  for  .£1,207,  although  its 
purchaser,  Mr.  Turner,  had  obtained  it  for  £840.  The  Day- 
dream was  painted  with  the  most  conscientious  attention  and 
effort.     After  my  brother  had  completed  the  head  so  as  to 


PAINTINGS   AND   POEMS,    1874-81.  365 

satisfy  most  eyes,  he  decided  that  it  was  not  good  enough 
for  himself.  He  painted  it  out  entirely,  and  did  it  over  again. 
Mr.  Shields,  who  was  very  constantly  in  Rossetti's  studio  at 
this  period,  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  changed  a  full  half 
of  the  picture.  The  pains  were  not  misbestowed,  for  this — 
the  latest  of  his  considerable  works  that  was  fully  completed 
— ranks  also  among  the  best. 

As  to  the  drawing  of  The  Sphinx  I  must  once  again  have 
recourse  to  Mr.  Scott's  book.  As  my  reader  will  perceive, 
this  takes  us  to  a  date  rather  more  advanced  than  that  which 
my  narrative  has  yet  reached. 

"  When  our  time  came  for  returning  to  town  [I  understand  the 
date  indicated  to  be  towards  the  middle  of  November  1881 — at 
any  rate  between  17  October  and  n  December],  I  was  shocked  to 
find  the  dear  old  Gabriel  prostrate  on  the  old  sofa  we  had  so  often 
in  the  earlier  times  seen  filled  with  the  most  genial  friends.  He 
was,  it  now  appeared  to  me,  going  down  fast ;  but  I  tried  to  keep 
up  the  usual  deception  we  apply  to  invalids.  I  had  gone  alone, 
thinking  it  best  to  make  this  first  visit  so ;  but  he  was  by  himself, 
no  one  attending  or  trying  to  cheer  the  man  whose  spirits  were  down 
to  zero.  [Under  ordinary  circumstances  Mr.  Caine  would  have  been 
in  the  house,  but  he  may  have  been  casually  absent,  lecturing  in 
Liverpool.]  When  he  and  I  were  alone  [this  phrase  seems  odd,  for 
the  previous  statement  is  that  they  two  had  been  alone  from  the 
first],  he  wept  and  complained,  and  made  unkind  speeches,  or 
showed  me  things  he  thought  would  wound  me  ;  as  when  he  made 
his  servant  lay  before  me  a  large  chalk  sketch  he  called  Questioning 
the  Sphinx.  [I  think  the  fixed  title  of  the  design  was  simply  The 
Sphinx,  or  else  The  Question :  I  know  it  as  a  pencil  drawing,  rather 
fully  elaborated,  and  have  not  any  recollection  of  a  chalk  sketch.] 
This  wounded  me,  because  it  happened  that  I  had  made  an  illustra- 
tion, in  my  first  issue  of  The  Year  of  the  World  (that  juvenile  '  poem 
with  a  purpose  '),  of  the  hero  traveller  leaning  on  an  augural  staff 
with  his  ear  to  the  mouth  of  a  Sphinx,  which  I  called  by  that  name, 
and  which  the  beloved  D.  G.  R.  of  that  early  time  used  to  make  game 
of,  as  if  I  had  mistaken  the  ancient  fable  in  which  the  Sphinx  was 
the  questioner,  not  the  questioned.  [This  seems  to  me  to  exhibit 
a   very   strange    state   of    feeling   on    Mr.    Scott's    part.     He   was 


366  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTl. 

"wounded"  because  Rossetti  produced  to  him  in  1881  a  drawing, 
executed  in  or  about  1875,  bearing  in  subject-matter  some,  though 
not  any  very  direct,  analogy  to  a  little  woodcut  design  which  Scott 
had  published  in  1846,  and  had  not  even  reproduced  in  a  later  issue 
of  his  poem.]  I  had  besides  written  a  poem  called  To  the  Sphinx 
considered  as  the  Symbol  of  Religious  Mystery  [yes,  and  a  very  fine 
poem  it  is  in  essentials;  but  why  the  writing  by  Scott  of  such  a  poem, 
published  in  1854,  should  in  any  way  debar  Rossetti  from  producing 
towards  1875,  and  showing  to  his  old  friend  in  1881,  a  design 
containing  a  Sphinx,  remains  to  me  almost  as  great  a  mystery  as  the 
Sphinx  itself].1  Lying  on  the  sofa  dying  as  he  was,  I  saw  that 
singular  expression  of  ferocity  [see  Section  XXX.]  that  used  to 
take  possession  of  his  face  if  he  surmised  a  quarrel  was  coming.  I 
laid  the  sketch  aside,  but  he  kept  staring  at  me.  I  refused  to  take 
up  the  gauntlet,  and  I  could  not  venture  to  speak  of  the  sketch 
itself,  the  style  of  drawing  being  so  bad  as  to  show  his  illness  was 
destroying  his  work."  [The  style  of  drawing — the  treatment  of  the 
nude — in  this  design  (which  is  tolerably  well-known  in  a  photo- 
graphed form,  and  which,  as  aforesaid,  was  produced  not  late  in 
1881,  when  "illness  was  destroying  his  work,"  but  some  six  years 
earlier)  does  certainly  not  display  the  learned  energy  of  a  Michel- 
angelo or  a  David,  nor  the  suave  accomplishment  of  a  Leighton.  If 
one  were  to  pit  it  against  Mr.  Scott's  little  "  illustration  of  the  hero 
traveller  "  etc.,  the  verdict  might  go  in  the  contrary  direction.] 

I  leave  it  to  the  reader  to  judge  whether  the  spirit  shown 
in  the  foregoing  extract  is  or  is  not  such  as  might  have  been 
expected  from  its  author  with  regard  to  his  "  dearest  of  friends 
and  most  interesting  of  men,"  whom  he  well  perceived  to  be 
then  "dying,"  and  who  was  dead  long  before  the  Aatobio- 

1  Mr.  Sharp  was  perhaps  prompted  by  Mr.  Scott  to  say  (p.  241  of  his 
book  on  Rossetti)  that  my  brother's  design  "  is,  as  the  few  intimate  friends 
at  this  date  are  aware,  indebted  for  suggestion  to  the  fine  poem  by  Mr. 
William  Bell  Scott  called  The  Sphinx,  where — for  the  first  time,  if  I  am 
not  mistaken — questions  are  propounded  to  the  Sphinx,  instead  of  the 
latter  being  the  mystic  questioner  in  riddles."  This  statement  is  wholly 
fallacious.  In  Mr.  Scott's  poem  not  a  single  question  of  a  substantial  kind 
is  propounded  to  the  Sphinx,  and  only  one  question  by  way  of  rhetorical 
device. 


PAINTINGS  AND   POEMS,    1874-81.  367 

graphical  Notes  were  put  into  form  for  publication.  Curious 
indeed  are  the  lurking-places  and  blind  corners  in  the  heart 
of  man.  Expressions  occur  in  this  extract  which  seem 
dictated  by  genuine  affection,  and  so  I  believe  they  were,  for 
Scott  was  a  man  capable  of  true  friendship,  as  no  one  knows 
better  than  myself ;  and  other  expressions  which  look  as  if 
they  were  incompatible  with  anything  save  a  resolute  desire 
to  disparage  and  besmirch.  But  I  will  for  the  present  leave 
"  dear  old  Gabriel  prostrate  on  the  old  sofa — going  down  fast 
and  dying  " — and  resume  what  has  to  be  said  about  his  works 
of  art  up  to  the  earlier  portion  of  1881. 

Desdemonds  Death-song  was  a  subject  highly  germane  to 
my  brother's  sympathies  and  his  powers.  He  was  greatly 
bent  upon  making  a  picture  of  it,  and  designed  it  in  two  or 
three  varying  compositions  ;  and  it  seems  more  than  likely 
that,  had  he  succeeded  in  producing  the  painting,  the  public 
liking  of  it  would  have  surpassed  that  for  almost  any  of  his 
other  works.  But  he  was  not  destined  to  make  a  beginning 
in  colour.  Bruna  Brunelleschi  was  his  last  water-colour 
(except  a  Proserpine  replica),  and  was  also  one  of  his  best. 

To  this  record  of  Rossetti's  art-work  I  may  add  that 
Mr.  Haydon  made  towards  1880  an  etching  of  the  old  design 
of  Hamlet  and  Ophelia,  doing  it  with  skill  and  with  great 
fidelity,  but  rather  heavy-handedly.  My  brother  preferred 
that  if  should  not  be  published,  and  the  copper  remains  in 
my  hands.  After  all  this  lapse  of  years  it  might  be  quite  as 
well  to  publish  the  etching  some  day. 

Mr.  Caine  gives  a  rather  singular  account  of  how  Rossetti 
was  induced  to  resume  poetical  composition,  of  which  he  had 
done  nothing  considerable  since  1871.  The  friend  of  whom 
he  speaks  is  clearly  Mr.  Theodore  Watts.  I  cannot  remember 
having  heard  of  the  circumstances  otherwise  than  through 
Mr.  Caine's  narrative,  but  this  I  assume  to  be  substantially 
correct : — 

"After  one  of  his  most  serious  illnesses,  and  in  the  hope  of 
drawing-off  his  attention  from  himself,  and  from  the  gloomy  fore- 
bodings which  in  an   invalid's  mind  usually  gather  about  his   own 


368  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

too  absorbing  personality,  a  friend  prevailed  upon  him,  with  infinite 
solicitation,  to  try  his  hand  afresh  at  a  sonnet.  The  outcome  was 
an  effort  so  feeble  as  to  be  all  but  unrecognizable  as  the  work  of  the 
author  of  the  sonnets  of  The  House  of  Life;  but,  with  more  shrewd- 
ness and  friendliness  (on  this  occasion)  than  frankness,  the  critic 
lavished  measureless  praise  upon  it,  and  urged  the  poet  to  renewed 
exertion.  One  by  one,  at  longer  or  shorter  intervals,  sonnets  were 
written ;  and  this  exercise  did  more  towards  his  recovery  than  any 
other  medicine,  with  the  result  besides  that  Rossetti  eventually 
regained  all  his  old  dexterity  and  mastery  of  hand.  Encouraged  by 
such  results,  the  friend  went  on  to  induce  Rossetti  to  write  a  ballad ; 
and  this  purpose  he  finally  achieved  by  challenging  the  poet's  ability 
to  compose  in  the  simple,  direct,  and  emphatic  style  which  is  the 
style  of  the  ballad  proper,  as  distinguished  from  the  elaborate, 
ornate,  and  condensed  diction  which  he  had  hitherto  worked  in 
[it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  "  which  he  had  generally  hitherto 
worked  in,"  for  there  were  instances  to  the  contrary — such  as 
Stratton  Water].  Put  upon  his  mettle,  the  outcome  of  this  second 
artifice  practised  upon  him  was  that  he  wrote  The  White  Ship,  and 
afterwards  The  King's  Tragedy" 

Perhaps  the  incident  of  the  ill-concocted  sonnet  belongs  to 
the  year  1878,  when  Rossetti  did  in  fact  write  some  verses — 
I  presume  a  sonnet — about  Cyprus,  of  all  places  in  the  world. 
He  knew  and  cared  nothing  about  Cyprus,  nor  about  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  supposed  stroke  of  policy  in  securing  in  that 
year  the  administration  of  the  Island,  and  the  sonnet  could 
thus  hardly  escape  being  a  bad  one.  Mr.  Watts  undertook 
to  send  the  sonnet  to  the  Athenceum,  but  withdrew  it  on  the 
alleged  ground  that  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  contained  another 
poem  on  the  same  theme — a  reason  which  always  looked  to 
me  odd,  and  which  may  now  yield  to  the  more  cogent  reason 
that  the  sonnet  was  a  visibly  bad  one.  My  brother  did  after- 
wards write  several  good  sonnets — as  for  instance,  in  April 
1880,  The  Song-throe  ("  By  thine  own  tears  thy  song  must 
tears  beget"),  and,  in  February  1881,  the  sonnet  for  his  picture 
named  Found.  He  sent  two  others  in  January  1881  to 
Christina,  with  the  dismal  message—"  With  me,  sonnets  mean 


DANTE'S   DREAM — BALLADS,  AND   SONNETS.  369 

insomnia."  I  think  the  trio  of  sonnets  entitled  True  Woman 
may  have  been  the  very  latest  of  his  printed  works,  produced 
before  15  September  1881.  On  his  death-bed  he  finished  (as 
I  mentioned  before)  his  old  ballad  of  Jan  van  Hunks,  and 
produced  two  sonnets  on  the  Sphinx  subject.  These  three 
compositions,  which  he  presented  as  a  gift  to  Mr.  Watts, 
remain  as  yet  unpublished. 

The  important  ballad  of  The  White  Ship  was  composed 
chiefly  in  1880;  it  was  finished  towards  the  end  of  April  in 
that  year.  Some  scraps  of  it  had  however  been  written  "  long 
ago,"  as  my  brother  told  me.  The  still  more  important — but 
I  think  certainly  not  superior — ballad  of  The  King's  Tragedy 
may  have  been  completed  before  the  spring  of  1881  had  well 
begun.  This  also  had  been  undertaken  some  while  before 
the  writing  of  it  was  attended  to  with  regularity.  The  work 
strained  him  severely.  "  It  was  as  though  my  own  life  ebbed 
out  with  it,"  he  said  to  Mr.  Caine. 


XXXIX. 

DANTE'S  DREAM— BALLADS  AND  SONNETS. 

Mr.  Hall  Caine  was  destined  to  be  the  last  house-mate  of 
Dante  Rossetti  in  Cheyne  Walk.  In  the  spring  of  1881  he 
spent  a  week  with  him  by  invitation  ;  and  in  July  of  that 
year  he  took  up  his  regular  abode  in  the  house.  This  was 
naturally  at  my  brother's  urgency.  Mr.  Caine,  from  the 
experience  which  he  had  now  had  of  Rossetti's  habits,  low 
spirits,  and  fitful  impressibility,  viewed  the  adventure  not  with- 
out some  apprehension  ;  and  it  would  be  vain  to  deny  that, 
spite  of  his  sincere  admiration  of  Rossetti's  intellect  and  its 
products,  and  his  warm  personal  regard,  he  found  the  position 
a  somewhat  trying  one.  He  had  free  quarters  and  board  in 
the  house,  and  was  not  bound  to  look  after  my  brother  other- 
wise than  as  friendship  and  kind  feeling  should  dictate.  He 
had  now  launched  out  on  the  literary  profession,  and  neces- 
sarily wanted  to  have  the  majority  of  his  time  at  his  own 
VOL,  I.  24 


370  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI, 

disposal.  But  Rossetti's  gifts  and  his  temperament  always 
made  him  a  leader  in  any  associateship,  and  now  his  infirmities 
reinforced  the  claim  ;  and  Mr.  Caine  was  soon  drawn  within 
a  vortex  from  which  escape — unless  he  had  decided  to  escape 
from  the  house  altogether — was  not  easily  manageable.  His 
own  work  got  impeded  ;  his  days  and  evenings  were  cut  up 
by  numerous  and  miscellaneous  attentions  paid  to  his  highly 
sensitive  and  not  seldom  morbidly  wayward  friend  and  host. 
If  he  looks  back  upon  the  months  from  July  1881  to  April 
1882  as  a  period  of  strain  and  self-sacrifice,  he  may  at  least 
console  himself  with  the  reflection  that  he  did  a  great  deal  to 
soothe  and  tend  a  man  of  eminent  genius  and  wide  renown, 
and  that  he  amply  earned  the  gratitude  of  those  members  of 
the  family  who  survived  Dante  Rossetti. 

When  the  arrangement  for  Mr.  Caine's  settling  in  the  house 
was  definitely  fixed,  Rossetti  gave  notice  to  Mr.  Dunn — then 
in  his  native  city  of  Truro — that  he  would  not  again  be 
required  as  an  inmate ;  and  Mr.  Dunn,  on  returning  to 
London,  took  lodgings  of  his  own  in  Chelsea.  He  still 
received  some  artistic  employment  from  Rossetti  ;  and,  after 
the  death  of  the  latter,  he  accommodated  me  by  taking 
charge  of  the  house  and  keeping  things  straight  until  the 
sale  of  the  numerous  effects  was  held  in  July,  and  for  some 
little  while  afterwards. 

The  year  1881  was  really  one  of  conspicuous  success  and 
even  triumph  for  Rossetti,  as  both  painter  and  poet ;  but  not 
all  this  availed  to  "  minister  to  the  mind  diseased " — or 
"dis-eased,"  as  we  might  more  appropriately  write  the  word 
for  the  immediate  purpose.  He  sold  his  large  picture  of 
Dante's  Dream  to  the  Public  or  Municipal  Gallery  of  Liver- 
pool, the  Walker  Art-Gallery  ;  and  he  produced,  amid  lavish 
applause,  his  new  volume  of  poetry,  Ballads  and  Sonnets,  as 
well  as  a  modified  reissue  of  his  old  volume  named  Poems. 
The  Dante's  Dream  had  now  for  some  while  been  back  in  my 
brother's  studio,  owing  to  the  decision  of  its  second  purchaser, 
Mr.  Valpy,  to  leave  London  and  reside  in  Bath ;  and  Rossetti 
induced  Valpy  to  re-consign  it  to  him,  with  an  undertaking 


DANTE'S   DREAM— BALLADS   AND   SONNETS.  37  I 

that  he  would  eventually  supply  other  works  to  an  equal 
and  indeed  a  higher  money-value.  I  have  made  some  pre- 
vious brief  allusion  to  this  affair. 

Whatever  credit  may  be  due  for  the  first  suggestion  of 
the  sale-and-purchase  transaction  with  Liverpool  has  to  be 
assigned  to  Mr.  Caine,  followed  up  by  his  friendly  and  zealous 
good-offices,  and  his  tact  in  conducting  a  sometimes  rather 
thorny  negotiation.  He  it  was  who,  in  December  1880, 
wrote  to  Rossetti,  from  Liverpool,  saying  that,  as  Alderman 
Samuelson  had  then  succeeded  another  gentleman — whom 
I  shall  term  Mr.  R. — as  director  of  the  gallery,  a  chance 
seemed  to  have  opened  for  bringing  the  sale  to  bear. 
Alderman  Samuelson  did  in  fact  prove  a  steady  and  even 
strenuous  friend  to  the  project.  In  March  1881  he  proposed 
to  call  on  Rossetti,  and  look  at  the  picture.  But  it  so  hap- 
pened that  Mr.  R.  was  to  be  in  his  company  ;  and  this  was 
supremely  distasteful  to  Rossetti,  for  a  reason  which  he 
notified  thus  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Samuelson  : — 

"  Mr.  R.  thought  fit  some  time  ago  to  express  himself,  when 
presiding  at  a  public  lecture,  in  the  worst  possible  form  of  disparage- 
ment respecting  me  and  my  art."  And,  as  to  his  proposing  to  enter 
the  house,  "  I  need  hardly  say  that  no  question  of  interest  could 
induce  me  to  waive  such  an  objection." 

This  affair  of  Mr.  R.'s  observations  at  the  lecture  was  for 
a  long  while  a  sore  point  with  Rossetti,  who  understood  that 
the  remarks  in  question  had  involved  a  recurrence  to  the  old 
"  Fleshly  School  "  imputations  upon  his  morale  in  the  arts. 
He  may  have  taken  an  exaggerated  view  of  the  facts,  or  may 
have  felt  unduly  touchy  concerning  them  ;  but  many  persons 
would  probably  agree  with  me  in  commending  his  high  spirit, 
which  would  neither  bend  nor  break,  and  which  made  him 
count  as  dross  the  coin  which — in  a  business  affair  that  he 
had  very  much  at  heart  on  various  grounds — might  have 
been  earned  with  some  tarnish  to  his  self-respect. 

Alderman  Samuelson  was  thus  brought  to  a  standstill  for 
a  time  ;  but  he  proposed  anew  to  make  a  call,  accompanied 


372  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

by  two  other  members  of  the  committee,  Mr.  Bower  and 
Mr.  Galloway.  This  was  done,  and  all  three  were  of  one 
mind,  in  favour  of  the  purchase.  Still  Mr.  R.  had  to  be 
dealt  with,  for  his  was  an  influential  voice,  without  which 
nothing  could  be  securely  effected.  In  July,  after  seeing  and 
admiring  the  smaller  Dante  s  Dream  in  the  house  of  Mr. 
Graham,  he  wrote  to  my  brother,  saying  that  his  remarks  at 
the  lecture  had  been  misunderstood  or  misreported,  and  that 
he  would  like  the  purchase  to  come  off,  and  would  yet  call 
if  authorized  to  do  so.  After  such  a  disclaimer,  any  further 
obstruction  on  Rossetti's  part  would  have  been  an  act  of 
mingled  obduracy  and  weakness — and  indeed  he  was  bound 
to  accept,  as  a  gentleman,  the  denial  of  fact  tendered  to  him 
in  a  gentlemanly  spirit.  So  he  made  an  appointment  for 
Mr.  R.  to  call.  The  call  was  made,  and  Mr.  R.  also  pro- 
nounced in  favour  of  the  purchase.  My  brother,  in  view  of 
the  probable  sale,  had  already  made  some  modifications  in 
the  picture.  He  positively  declined  however  to  send  it  to  the 
annual  exhibition  in  Liverpool,  unless  on  the  clear  under- 
standing that  it  was,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  sold  to  the 
permanent  Art-Gallery,  and  could  not  under  any  conditions 
be  returned  on  his  hands.  At  one  time,  in  the  beginning  of 
August,  he  concluded  that  this  understanding  had  failed  ;  but 
it  was  immediately  renewed.  The  picture  was  sent  off  on  the 
16th  of  the  month,  and  at  the  private  view  it  stood  marked 
as  sold.  The  price  he  wanted  was  his  own  old  price,  £i,$7$. 
To  allow  of  his  receiving  this  sum  unabated,  the  amount  was 
fixed  at  ^"1,650,  thus  providing  for  the  usual  commission  to 
the  exhibiting  body  upon  a  work  sold  out  of  the  Exhibition. 
Mr.  Caine  would  no  doubt  have  been  too  high-minded  to  urge 
any  claim  of  his  own  on  account  of  his  first  suggestion,  and 
the  great  pains  he  had  taken  in  the  matter  ;  but  Rossetti,  at 
an  early  date,  proposed  to  compensate  him  with  a  sum  of 
£150,  and  this  I  presume  was  done.  He  also  got  Alderman 
Samuelson  to  accept  a  crayon-study  for  the  head  of  Dante 
in  the  painting — one  of  his  finest  works  of  this  class. 

Thus,  with  marked  success,  terminated  the  sale  of  Rossetti's 


dante's  dream— ballads  and  sonnets.         373 

largest  picture,  which  continues  to  form  one  of  the  principal 
features  of  the  Walker  Art-Gallery.  The  purchase  being 
now  effected,  it  became  incumbent  on  my  brother  to  see 
about  executing  and  delivering  the  various  works  which  he 
had  undertaken  to  hand  over  to  Mr.  Valpy  after  the  purchase, 
as  an  equivalent  for  the  Dante  s  Dream.  He  made  no  delay 
in  setting  to  work  upon  them.  But  his  health  was  rapidly 
failing,  only  some  months  of  shattered  life  remained  to  him, 
and  the  tale  of  work  was  far  from  being  completed  at  the 
date  of  his  death.  Mr.  Valpy  had  of  course  a  claim  for  a 
solid  money-payment  instead,  and  this  was  made  in  due 
course.  The  like  was  the  case  with  Mr.  Graham,  in  relation 
to  the  still  unfinished  picture  Found,  begun  as  far  back  as 
1854.  It  may  be  as  well  to  add  that  this  picture  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  brought  to  completion  some  months 
before  Rossetti's  death,  but  for  an  unfortunate  demur  on  the 
part  of  Mr.  Graham  himself,  who  wanted  to  cumulate  upon 
the  Found  certain  payments  in  advance  which  he  had  made 
partly  upon  that  work,  and  partly  upon  another  work  not 
yet  begun  in  colour  but  only  schemed  out  in  monochrome, 
The  Boat  of  Love  (from  the  Vita  Nuovd).  He  now  wished 
to  abandon  The  Boat  of  Love  altogether.  To  this  Rossetti 
was  entitled  to  object,  and  he  did  object ;  though,  in  the 
instance  of  so  old  and  proved  a  friend,  with  very  great 
reluctance. 

My  brother's  volume  of  1870,  the  Poems,  went  through 
six  editions.  Towards  the  beginning  of  1879  it  was  out  of 
print,  and  no  further  issue  of  it  appeared.  He  made  about 
£700  by  it  altogether.  By  March  1881  he  had  determined 
to  re-print  the  Poems  in  a  somewhat  altered  form  ;  and  to 
follow  it  up  by  a  separate  volume,  containing  Rose  Mary, 
The  White  Ship,  The  King's  Tragedy,  The  House  of  Life 
in  a  completed  form,  and  various  other  compositions.  But 
very  soon  afterwards  he  decided  to  reverse  the  process,  and 
bring  out  first  the  new  Ballads  and  Sonnets,  and  then  in 
close  sequence  the  revised  Poems.  Into  the  latter — to  com- 
pensate for  the  removal  of  the  original  and  unfinished  House 


374  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

of  Life — some  fresh  work  was  introduced  ;  especially  the 
uncompleted  yet  rather  long  poem,  chiefly  of  very  early 
years,  named  The  Bride  s  Prelude.  Before  the  end  of  March 
the  copy  for  Ballads  and  Sonnets  was  sent  to  the  printer,  to 
be  published  by  Messrs.  Ellis  &  White.  This  liberal  firm 
offered  for  it  the  same  terms  as  for  the  volume  of  1870 — a 
royalty  of  25  per  cent,  to  be  paid  down  as  soon  as  the  book 
should  be  published,  without  waiting  for  actual  sale.  For 
the  re-issued  Poems  the  terms  were  to  be  a  like  royalty,  but 
only  accruing  in  proportion  as  sales  were  effected.  As  in 
the  previous  instance,  I  assisted  my  brother  with  the  proofs. 
The  Ballads  and  Sonnets,  very  properly  dedicated  to  Mr. 
Watts,  were  fully  in  print  by  16  September,  and  various 
copies  were  distributed.  The  full  publication  ensued  on 
17  October.  The  book  was  a  thorough  success,  for  by  the 
25th  of  the  latter  month  the  first  edition  of  1,000  copies 
was  exhausted  ;  and  before  the  end  of  November  2,000 
copies  altogether  had  been  issued  and  paid  for.  Rossetti 
wished  to  write  two  other  historical  ballads  :  foau  of  Arc, 
for  which  he  took  some  preparatory  steps ;  and  the  Death 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  which  was  intended  to  include  a  tribute 
to  another  great  American,  John  Brown,  the  "  faithful  unto 
death "  ;  also,  according  to  Mr.  Sharp,  The  Death  Ride  of 
Alexander  ILL  of  Scotland  (1286).  Of  this  I  remember 
nothing,  nor  does  the  subject  seem  to  supply  much  material 
for  a  ballad.  The  Poems,  in  their  revised  form,  came  out 
likewise  in  1881.  This  volume  sold  of  course  less  rapidly, 
but  continuously  until  some  while  after  my  brother's 
decease. 

Critics  were  laudatory,  some  of  them  enthusiastic ;  and, 
so  far  as  memory  serves  me,  there  was  no  repetition  of  abuse  at 
all  resembling  The  Fleshly  School  of  Poetry,  or  even  following 
on  the  same  lines.  "  Live  it  down  "  is  a  very  sound  axiom. 
My  brother  had  lived  it  down,  and  might  from  the  first  have 
been  sure  that  he  would  do  so.  But,  unhappily  for  himself  and 
all  others  concerned,  he  had  supposed  that  the  influence  of 
detraction  and  fallacy  is  much  greater  than  it  really  is,  and 


CUMBERLAND  AND   LONDON — FINAL   ILLNESS.         375 

the  votaries  of  those  powers  much  more  numerous  than  in 
fact  they  are. 

Painful  to  say,  no  scintilla  of  pleasure  or  of  cheerfulness 
seemed  to  come  to  Dante  Rossetti  from  his  double  achieve- 
ment in  1881.  He  was  of  course,  in  a  faint  way,  gratified  that 
his  leading  picture  was  sold  to  a  public  institution,  and  that 
his  poetry  was,  by  a  renewed  experiment,  recognized  as  an 
honour  to  our  period.  He  sometimes  expressed  to  me — and 
he  did  so  particularly  in  February  1880 — a  much  higher 
value  for  his  poetical  than  for  his  pictorial  work.  But  the 
curtains  were  drawn  round  his  innermost  self,  and  the  dusk 
had  closed  over  him,  and  was  fast  darkening  into  night.  Not 
for  the  applause  of  a  big  or  a  little  crowd  had  he  worked  all 
his  life  long,  rather  for  adequate  self-expression  and  attain- 
ment in  art.  The  work  was  done,  but — except  in  a  remote 
or  abstracted  sense — it  did  not  prove  to  be  its  own  exceeding 
great  reward. 


XL. 

CUMBERLAND  AND  LONDON— FINAL  ILLNESS. 

THAT  Dante  Rossetti's  health  was  really  and  very  seriously 
undermined  in  and  before  1881  is  a  fact  now  too  palpable  for 
discussion,  for  his  life  came  to  an  end  in  April  1882.  People 
who  thought  that  it  was  "  all  fancy,"  or  the  nervous  appre- 
hensions of  a  hypochondriac,  were  under  a  mistake.  But  it 
is  true  that  his  uneasy  imagination  did  at  times  suggest  to 
him — at  any  rate  in  his  later  years — that  something  particular 
was  going  wrong,  when  in  fact  there  was  little  or  no  solid 
cause  for  disquietude.  I  have  heard  of  more  than  one  instance 
in  which,  on  hearing  about  the  symptoms  of  a  disease  affecting 
some  one  else,  he  forthwith  proceeded  to  suppose  that  he  him- 
self was  subject  to  the  same  malady.  Mr.  Caine  relates  a 
curious  circumstance,  which  deserves  a  little  reflection. 

It  appears  that  at  some  time  in  1879,  before  Mr.  Caine  had 
made  personal  acquaintance  with  Rossetti,  some  troublesome 


376  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

attack  of  ill-health  befell  Mr.  Caine  himself,  then  in  Liverpool. 
He  wrote  of  it  to  Rossetti,  and  the  latter,  never  deficient  in 
sympathy,  replied  as  follows  : — 

"  I  was  truly  concerned  to  hear  of  the  attack  of  ill-health  you 
have  suffered  from,  though  you  do  not  tell  me  its  exact  nature.  I 
hope  it  was  not  accompanied  by  any  such  symptoms  as  you  men- 
tioned before.  I  myself  have  had  similar  symptoms  (though  not  so 
fully  as  you  describe),  and  have  spat  Dlood  at  intervals  for  years  ; 
but  now  think  nothing  of  it — nor  indeed  ever  did — waiting  for 
further  alarm-signals  which  never  came." 

Mr.  Caine  then  says  of  Rossetti  (apparently  in   1881)  that 

"  Upon  the  periodical  recurrence  of  the  symptom,  he  never  failed 
to  become  convinced  that  he  spat  arterial  blood,  and  that  on  each 
occasion  he  had  received  his  death-warrant.  Proof  enough  was 
adduced  that  the  blood  came  from  the  minor  vessels  of  the  throat." 

This,  especially  as  contrasted  with  Rossetti's  own  quoted 
words,  seems  a  little  exaggerated  in  expression  ;  but  on  that 
I  need  not  dwell.  Mr.  Caine  next  proceeds  to  state  that 
"  during  the  two  or  three  weeks  preceding  our  departure  for 
Cumberland  in  the  autumn  of  1881,  during  the  time  of  our 
residence  there,  and  during  the  first  few  weeks  after  our  return 
to  London,  Rossetti  was  afflicted  by  a  violent  cough,"  which 
our  author  regarded  as  aggravated  "  by  a  conscious  giving 
way  to  it."  I  remember  at  that  period,  and  at  one  or  two 
others,  this  matter  of  the  cough  ;  and  I  am  quite  at  one  with 
Mr.  Caine  in  thinking  that  it  could  have  been  considerably 
controlled  by  my  brother  if  he  had  chosen  ;  but  for  one  reason 
or  another  he  appeared  to  me  to  prefer  giving  it  the  freest 
course.  Then  comes  Mr.  Caine's  narrative  of  a  particular 
incident,  which  probably  pertains  to  about  the  middle  of 
November : — 

"  He  told  me  that  during  the  night  of  my  absence,  in  the  midst 
of  one  of  his  bouts  of  coughing,  he  had  discharged  an  enormous 
quantity  of  blood.  '  I  know  this  is  the  final  signal,'  he  said,  '  and 
I  shall  die.'     I  did  not "  (adds  Mr.  Caine)  "  hold  the  promise  I  gave 


CUMBERLAND  AND  LONDON— FINAL  ILLNESS.        $17 

him  as  to  secrecy  sufficiently  sacred,  or  so  exclusive,  as  to  forbid  my 
revealing  the  whole  circumstance  to  his  medical  attendant.  I  may 
add  that  from  that  moment  the  cough  entirely  disappeared." 

All  this  about  the  blood-spitting  "  at  intervals  for  years  " — 
not  to  speak  of  the  superabundant  coughing — sounds  odd, 
and  perhaps  some  of  my  readers  will  suppose  it  was  mere 
fantasy  or  semi-conscious  imposture  on  Rossetti's  part.  And 
yet  I  believe  it  was  real  in  its  degree.  As  far  back  as 
November  1871  (which  was  some  months  before  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Buchanan  pamphlet,  and  therefore  before  any 
obvious  disturbance  of  his  mental  equilibrium)  he  told  me  that 
he  had  brought  up  blood  that  day,  and  had  done  so  earlier 
in  the  year  at  Kelmscott,  which  was  prior  to  the  appearance 
even  of  the  article  in  the  Contemporary  Review  ;  and  he  made 
a  similar  statement  at  the  beginning  of  April  1872.  However, 
I  have  not  the  least  reason  to  think  that  his  lungs  were,  from 
first  to  last,  otherwise  than  sound. 

The  departure  for  Cumberland,  mentioned  by  Mr.  Caine, 
took  place  on  17  September  1881.  Mr.  Caine  was  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  Vale  of  St.  John,  near  Keswick  ;  and,  as  it 
seemed  highly  desirable  that  Rossetti  should  have  some  break 
in  the  monotonous  course  of  his  existence,  and  rouse  himself 
from  habitual  and  increasing  dejection,  he  was  prevailed  upon 
to  join  Caine  in  an  expedition  to  the  Cumberland  solitude, 
at  the  Legberthwaite  end  of  the  Vale.  As  the  Family-letters 
show,  this  change  seemed,  at  the  first  blush,  not  a  little 
beneficial ;  but  soon,  under  the  malign  influence  of  chloral, 
with  its  accompanying  whiskey,  "  the  last  state  of  that  man 
was  worse  than  the  first."  Mr.  Caine  has  given  some 
depressing  details,  which  I  need  not  draw  upon  here — the 
sum  of  the  whole  being  that  the  change  proved  visibly 
harmful.  Rossetti  at  last  expressed  a  wish  to  return  to 
London.  He  was  back  on  17  October.  As  he  re-entered  his 
now  gloomy  but  accustomed  and  still  cherished  house,  he 
exclaimed,  as  Mr.  Caine  has  recorded — "  Thank  God  !  home 
at  last,  and  never  shall  I  leave  it  again."     He  was  indeed  to 


378  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

leave  it  once  more,  but  only  as  the  latest  stage  towards  his 
final  resting-place. 

On  24  October  I  received  his  letter  saying  that  he  was 
"  very  ill."  I  went  round,  and  found  him  in  much  the  same 
state  as  in  October  1879.  A  nurse  was  called  in,  who  left 
him  towards  the  beginning  of  November.  On  the  27th  of  that 
month  another  nurse  came,  and  none  too  soon,  and  one  rule 
strictly  enforced  was  that  my  brother  should  go  to  bed 
by  nine  o'clock.  By  21  November  I  observed  him  to  be 
somewhat  less  shaken  in  health,  but  deeply  melancholy. 
Matters  of  very  old  as  well  as  more  recent  date  agitated  his 
mind  ;  even  so  old  as  the  year  1847  or  1848,  when  his  desultory 
habits  of  work,  or  lack  of  filial  deference,  used  to  annoy  our 
father,  and  elicit  some  severe  expressions  from  him.  It  must, 
I  think,  have  been  immediately  after  21  November  that  an 
incident  occurred,  related  at  some  length  by  Mr.  Bell  Scott. 
It  is  singular  in  itself,  and  highly  symptomatic  of  my  brother's 
then  condition  of  mind  and  spirits,  and  I  shall  extract  the 
passage  as  it  stands,  only  omitting  some  observations  which, 
without  being  irrelevant,  are  not  quite  to  the  immediate 
purpose. 

"  A  new  idea  had  taken  possession  of  his  mind,  which  caused  us 
painful  agitation  ["  us "  would  be  Scott  and  Miss  Boyd,  and  I 
suppose  some  others,  especially  Shields  and  Watts :  I  cannot  affirm 
however  that  Miss  Boyd  was  present  on  the  occasion  referred  to, 
nor  who  else  was  either  present  or  in  fact  painfully  agitated].  He 
wanted  a  priest  to  give  him  absolution  for  his  sins  !  I  mention  this 
hallucination  [I  cannot  see  that  it  was  a  hallucination,  though  it 
may  have  been  a  weakness]  as  I  have  related  previous  ones ;  for 
example,  that  of  the  chaffinch  on  the  highway  so  long  ago  as  1869 
[see  Section  XXX.]— not  loving  him  the  less  but  the  more, 
sympathizing  with  him  almost  mesmerically.  But  the  aesthetic  side 
of  anything  was  his  exclusive  interest.  In  poetry  and  in  painting  the 
mediaeval  period  of  history  was  necessary  to  him  [this,  in  its  primary 
sense,  is  remote  indeed  from  the  fact].  At  first  no  one  took  any 
notice  of  this  demand  for  a  confessor.  We  thought  his  mind 
wandering,  or  that  he  was  dreaming.     But  on  its  earnest  repetition, 


CUMBERLAND  AND   LONDON — FINAL   ILLNESS.         379 

with  his  eyes  openv  I  for  one  put  him  in  mind  of  his  not  being  a 
papist,  and  of  his  extreme  agnosticism.  '  I  don't  care  about  that,' 
was  his  puzzling  reply.  '  I  can  make  nothing  of  Christianity,  but 
I  only  want  a  confessor  to  give  me  absolution  for  my  sins.'  This 
was  so  truly  like  a  man  living  or  rather  dying  in  a.d.  1300  that  it 
was  impossible  to  do  anything  but  smile.  Yet  he  was  serious,  and 
went  on  :  '  I  believe  in  a  future  life.  Have  I  not  had  evidence  of 
that  often  enough  ?  Have  I  not  heard  and  seen  those  that  died 
long  years  ago  ?  What  I  want  now  is  absolution  for  my  sins,  that's 
all.'  'And  very  little  too,'  some  outsider  in  the  room  whispered, 
as  a  gloomy  joke  [I  have  no  idea  who  this  outsider  could  have 
been :  did  Mr.  Scott  possibly  mean  Mr.  Caine  ?  It  is  exceedingly 
unlikely  that,  during  such  a  conversation  as  this,  my  brother  would 
have  had  in  the  room  any  person  whom  he  himself  regarded  as  an 
outsider].  None  of  us,  the  deeply  interested  few  who  heard  him, 
could  answer  a  word." 

To  this  narrative — to  the  general  authenticity  of  which  I 
lend  full  credence — I  must  add  yet  a  few  observations.  On 
the  occasion  to  which  I  lately  referred,  21  November,  when 
I  was  alone  with  my  brother,  he  certainly  showed  very  great 
trouble  of  mind — the  kind  of  trouble  which,  had  he  been  a 
Roman  Catholic,  he  would  at  once  have  imparted  to  a  priest 
in  confession,  receiving  in  return  admonition,  advice,  and 
probably  some  large  amount  of  consolation.  He  must  then 
have  raised — or  gone  very  near  to  raising — this  question  of  a 
Catholic  priest.  I  say  Catholic,  because,  although  he  had 
been  trained  in  the  Anglican  Church,  such  Christian  sym- 
pathies as  he  had  went  entirely  in  the  direction  of  Catholicism, 
and  not  in  the  least  of  Protestantism.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  precise  terms  in  which  he  spoke  to  me,  my  reply 
was  that,  if  he  really  felt  any  strong  inclination  that  way,  I, 
were  I  in  his  place,  would  assuredly  act  upon  it  ;  but  that  it 
would  be  no  use  seeing  a  priest  unless  he  were  firmly 
resolved  to  do  what  the  priest  should  tell  him  to  do,  in  the 
nature  of  religious  observance,  penance,  and  aught  else. 
Were  it  possible  for  the  like  circumstances  to  arise  again,  I 
would  still  give  the  like  advice  ;  the  question  being,  not  what 


380  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

my  opinions  are — and,  as  a  fact,  their  current  is  totally 
opposite — but  what  a  man  can  rationally  do  who  feels  a 
personal  need  of  religious  solace.  If  after  this  talk  my 
brother  still  wanted  "  absolution  for  his  sins,"  the  only  really 
surprising  thing  is  that  he  did  not  take  steps  for  soliciting 
and  procuring  it.  Here  the  other  phase  of  his  mind — that 
which  regarded  the  mysteries  of  the  universe  as  inscrutable — 
must  have  exercised  the  predominance. 

Mr.  Scott,  it  seems,  urged  upon  Rossetti  "  his  extreme 
agnosticism."  But  Mr.  Scott,  in  conceiving  Rossetti  to  be  an 
extreme  agnostic,  only  took  count  of  one  half  of  his  mind, 
often — it  is  true — in  evidence.  My  brother  was  unquestion- 
ably sceptical  as  to  many  alleged  facts,  and  he  disregarded 
formulated  dogmas,  and  the  practices  founded  upon  them. 
For  theological  discussions  of  whatsoever  kind  he  had  not  the 
faintest  taste,  nor  yet  the  least  degree  of  aptitude.  On  the 
other  hand,  his  mind  was  naturally  prone  to  the  marvellous 
and  the  supernatural,  and  he  had  an  abiding  and  very  deep 
reverence  for  the  person  of  Christ.  I  recollect  that  one 
evening — it  may  have  been  late  in  1879 — he  wound  up  a 
conversation  with  me  on  this  subject  by  saying,  in  a  tone  of 
decisive  conviction,  "  Certainly  He  was  something  more  than 
man."  To  pass  from  the  belief  of  something  superhuman  in 
Christ  to  the  admission  of  some  more  than  human  authority 
in  a  minister  of  Christ  is  a  not  very  unaccountable  step. 

It  will  be  seen  that  I  am  not  here  arguing  that  my  brother 
was  either  reasonable  or  self-consistent  in  wishing  to  get 
"  absolution  for  his  sins  " — he  was  not  a  man  of  self-consistency 
in  either  opinion  or  act ;  but  only  that,  if  one  understands 
both  sides  of  his  mind,  one  can  see  how  the  notion  arose, 
whereas,  if  one  erroneously  supposes  him  to  have  been  simply 
and  solely  an  "extreme  agnostic,"  there  is  no  traceable  line 
of  connexion.  When  all  is  said,  it  must  be  added  that  the 
"  absolution  "  had  quite  as  much  to  do  with  chloral  as  with 
creed. 

As  to  my  brother's  reported  assertion  "  I  believe  in  a  future 
life,"  this  was  partially  true  at  all  periods  of  his  career,  and 


CUMBERLAND   AND   LONDON — FINAL   ILLNESS.         381 

was  entirely  true  in  his  closing  years.1  It  depended  partly 
upon  what  we  call  "  spiritualism,"  <on  many  of  whose  mani- 
festations he  relied,  while  ready  to  admit  that  some  others 
have  been  mere  juggling.  In  November  1879  I  found  that 
his  mind  was  much  occupied  with  spiritualism,  and  that  he 
was  then  fully  convinced,  or  re-convinced,  of  immortality  ; 
and  I  am  sure  that  from  this  belief  he  never  afterwards 
receded.  I  cannot  say  with  any  accuracy  what  he  supposed 
immortality  to  consist  of.  To  all  appearance  his  own  surmises 
were  but  vague.  I  have  little  doubt  however  that,  in  the  case 
of  persons  so  faulty  as  he  knew  and  acknowledged  himself 
to  be,  yet  not  ignoble  in  faculty  or  aim,  he  credited  neither 
immediate  bliss  after  death  nor  irrevocable  "  damnation,"  but 
rather  a  period  of  purgation  and  atonement,  with  gradual 
ascent,  comparable  more  or  less  to  the  purgatory  of  Roman 
Catholics.  On  this  momentous  subject  I  never  saw  him  to 
be  agitated,  timorous,  or  mentally  harassed.  He  seemed 
willing  to  accept  his  fate,  such  as  some  eternal  decree  might 
impose  it. 

Mr.  Scott  states  also  that  Rossetti  said — "  Have  I  not 
heard  and  seen  those  that  died  long  years  ago  ?  "  Perhaps 
this  is  even  verbally  accurate ;  though  I  cannot  recollect 
having  myself  ever  heard  my  brother  allege  that  he  had  seen 
a  spiritual  appearance,  or  what  we  term  a  ghost. 

Perhaps  the  reader  thinks  that  I  have  paid  more  attention 
than  was  needed  to  this  transitory  craving  for  "  absolution 
for  sins "  ;  but,  at  some  point  or  other  of  my  narrative,  it 
seemed  requisite  to  say  something  about  my  brother's  opinions 
— or  I  might  rather  say  feelings — on  questions  of  religion,  and 
here  the  opportunity  offered.  His  opinions  on  the  subject 
were  highly  indefinite ;  his  utterances  often  negative,  some- 
times positive  ;  his  interior  and  essential  feelings,  a  mixture 

1  In  my  book  entitled  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  as  Designer  and  Writer 
(p.  261)  I  have  called  attention  to  twelve  sonnets  in  The  House  of  Life 
which  bear  upon  the  question  of  the  destiny  of  the  soul.  Of  these, 
eight  indicate  a  belief  in  immortality ;  three  a  sense  of  uncertainty ;  one 
does  not  point  clearly  to  anything. 


382  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

of  the  two,  coloured  by  passion  and  imagination,  hazily 
distinguishable  by  himself,  and  by  no  means  to  be  neatly 
ticketed  by  others.  There  is  a  very  efficient  phrase  in  Mr. 
Swinburne's  review  of  Rossetti's  Poems  of  1870  which  comes 
home  to  me  as  observably  true  :  "  Nor  has  he  ever  suffered 
from  the  distemper  of  minds  fretted  and  worried  by  gnatstings 
and  fleabites  of  belief  and  unbelief  till  the  whole  lifeblood 
of  the  intellect  is  enfeebled  and  inflamed."  Or  take  Rossetti's 
own  utterance  in  his  short  but  well-pondered  poem  Soothsay 
(published  in   1881)  : — 

"  Let  lore  of  all  Theology- 
Be  to  thy  soul  what  it  can  be ; 
But  know — the  Power  that  fashions  man 
Measured  not  out  thy  little  span 
For  thee  to  take  the  meting-rod 
In  turn,  and  so  approve  on  God 
Thy  science  of  Theometry." 

Mr.  Caine  regarded  Rossetti  as,  "  by  religious  bias,  a  monk 
of  the  middle  ages."  To  this  I  only  very  partially  assent. 
He  may  indeed  have  been  so  by  "  bias,"  but  clearly  not  by 
implicit  belief.  If  we  could  imagine  "  a  monk  of  the  middle 
ages"  whose  mind  was  in  a  mist  as  to  religious  doctrines, 
who  conformed  to  no  religious  rites,  practised  no  monastic 
austerities,  and  in  profession  and  act  led  an  anti-monastic  life, 
we  might  obtain  some  parallel  to  Dante  Rossetti.  But  such 
a  personage  would  be  very  little  of  a  monk,  of  the  middle 
or  of  any  ages.  It  would  be  more  admissible  to  say  that 
Rossetti  was  intrinsically  a  man  of  the  middle  ages,  who,  by 
innate  bias  and  by  the  course  of  circumstances,  might  not 
unnaturally  have  been  led  to  turn  himself  into  a  monk.  In 
that  condition  he  would  have  painted  a  great  number  of 
missals,  written  a  verse-chronicle  beginning  with  the  Garden 
of  Eden  or  the  "  earth  without  form  and  void,"  indited 
hymns  as  rapturous  as  those  of  Jacopone  da  Todi,  exceeded 
in  austerity,  exercised  a  vast  influence  over  his  penitents,  and 
perchance  have  become  a  Cardinal  or  a  Pope — not  indeed  a 


CUMBERLAND   AND   LONDON — FINAL   ILLNESS.         383 

"  pagan  Pope,"  but  still  one  who  thought  his  own  thoughts 
under  the  cincture  of  the  triple  tiara. 

From  these  large  speculations  I  must  return  into  the 
hushed  atmosphere  of  16  Cheyne  Walk,  and  mention  what 
were  the  latest  art-productions  of  my  brother. 

In  May  1881  his  picture  of  The  Salutation  of  Beatrice, 
commissioned  by  Mr.  Leyland,  was  in  progress.  For  this 
picture  he  hesitated  for  a  while  between  the  gracious  type 
of  Mrs.  Stillman  and  the  intense  type  of  Mrs.  Morris. 
Eventually  he  adhered  to  the  latter.  Spite  of  his  shaken 
health,  the  work  proved  very  fully  up  to  his  mark.  It  was 
not  far  from  completed  when  he  had  to  abandon  the  palette. 
After  the  great  crisis  of  illness  of  which  I  shall  next  have 
to  speak  he  resumed  painting,  though  only  to  a  minor  extent, 
early  in  January  1882.  For  Mr.  Valpy  he  nearly  or  quite 
finished  a  duplicate  Proserpine,  and  brought  well  forward  a 
duplicate  Joan  of  A  re.  There  was  also  (but  not  so  late  as 
these)  a  Donna  della  Finestra,  with  magnolia-blossoms,  which 
remained  uncompleted. 

No  one  had  hailed  the  volume  of  Ballads  and  Sonnets  with 
more  energetic  or  more  acceptable  praise  than  Rossetti's 
friend  now  of  long  standing,  Dr.  Westland  Marston.  The 
evening  of  1 1  December  was  fixed  for  this  poet,  and  his 
blind  poet-son  Philip,  to  visit  my  brother.  The  only  fourth 
person  present  was  Mr.  Caine,  who  relates  the  facts  as 
follows  : — 

"  For  a  while  he  [Rossetti]  seemed  much  cheered  by  their  bright 
society ;  but  later  on  he  gave  those  manifestations  of  uneasiness 
which  I  had  learned  to  know  too  well.  Removing  restlessly  from 
seat  to  seat,  he  ultimately  threw  himself  upon  the  sofa  in  that  rather 
awkward  attitude  which  I  have  previously  described  as  characteristic 
of  him  in  moments  of  nervous  agitation.  Presently  he  called  out 
that  his  arm  had  become  paralysed,  and,  upon  attempting  to  rise, 
that  his  leg  also  had  lost  its  power.  We  were  naturally  startled  ; 
but,  knowing  the  force  of  his  imagination  in  its  influence  on  his 
bodily  capacity,  we  tried  playfully  to  banish  the  idea.  Raising  him 
to  his  feet  however,  we  realized  that,  from  whatever  cause,  he  had 


384  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

lost  the  use  of  the  limbs  in  question,  and  in  the  utmost  alarm  we 
carried  him  to  his  bedroom,  and  hurried  away  for  Mr.  Marshall. 
It  was  found  that  he  had  really  undergone  a  species  of  paralysis — • 
called,  I  think,  loss  of  co-ordinative  power.  The  juncture  was  a 
critical  one ;  and  it  was  at  length  decided,  by  the  able  medical 
adviser  just  named,  that  the  time  had  come  when  the  chloral,  which 
was  at  the  root  of  all  this  mischief,  should  be  decisively,  entirely, 
and  instantly  cut  off.  To  compass  this  end,  a  young  medical  man, 
Mr.  Henry  Maudsley,  was  brought  into  the  house  as  a  resident,  to 
watch  and  manage  the  case  in  the  intervals  of  Mr.  Marshall's  visits. 
It  is  not  for  me  to  offer  a  statement  of  what  was  done,  and  done  so 
ably,  at  this  period.  I  only  know  that  morphia  was  at  first  injected 
as  a  substitute  for  the  narcotic  the  system  had  grown  to  demand ; 
that  Rossetti  was  for  many  hours  delirious  whilst  his  body  was 
passing  through  the  terrible  ordeal  of  having  to  conquer  the  craving 
for  the  former  drug ;  and  that,  three  or  four  mornings  after  the 
experiment  had  been  begun,  he  awoke  calm  in  body  and  clear  in 
mind  and  grateful  in  heart  [this  favourable  result  seems  to  me  a 
little  ante-dated].  His  delusions,  and  those  intermittent  suspicions 
of  his  friends  which  I  have  before  alluded  to,  were  now  gone,  as 
things  in  the  past  of  which  he  hardly  knew  whether  in  actual  fact 
they  had  or  had  not  been." 

I  will  add  here  a  few  extracts  from  my  own  Diary.  There 
are  some  others  relating  to  my  brother  at  this  period,  but  of 
less  import : — 

"  Wednesday,  December  14.  Called  again  to  see  Gabriel,  having 
seen  him  also  on  Monday  [the  day  following  the  attack].  He  is 
in  bed,  suffering  from  a  numbness  along  the  left  side  generally — 
what  might  be  regarded  as  paralytic  numbness,  but  Marshall  has 
assured  Watts  that  it  is  not  really  paralytic.  To  me  also  Marshall 
spoke  on  Monday,  partly  in  the  same  sense,  but  (to  my  thinking) 
less  positively.  [Then  follow  a  few  details,  forestalled  by  Mr. 
Caine's  narrative.]  Of  course  Gabriel  is  not  a  little  dispirited. 
Marshall  is  now  very  anxious  to  get  rid  of  the  chloral  [it  would 
appear  therefore  that  chloral  was  not,  as  might  be  inferred  from  that 
narrative,  abolished  on  the  very  night  of  the  attack],  and  he  proposes 
to  inject  morphia  as  a  substitute.  He  was  to  have  come  to-day  for 
the  purpose,  but  did  not.     He  also  wants  to  put  a  young  medical 


CUMBERLAND   AND   LONDON — FINAL   ILLNESS.         385 

man  in  charge,  to  take  care  that  his  plan  is  fully  carried  out.  Watts 
is  with  Gabriel  almost  every  day.  This  evening  Jones  also  came, 
and  was  very  affectionate,  and  promises  to  return  as  often  as  he  may 
be  wanted.     On  coming  home  I  found  Shields. 

"Monday,  December  19.  Called  on  Gabriel.  A  young  medical 
man,  Maudsley,  nephew  of  the  celebrated  doctor,  is  now  in  the 
house,  and  the  system  of  injecting  morphia  near  the  wrist  has  been 
begun.  The  chloral  is  wholly  discontinued,  and  the  whiskey  which 
accompanied  it  reduced  to  about  a  wineglass  a  day.  Under  this 
system  Gabriel  gets  a  fair  moderate  amount  of  sleep ;  but  it  is 
perturbed  by  painful  opium-dreams,  and  the  same  impressions 
remain  with  him  when  awake.  This  was  markedly  the  case  to-day. 
Throughout  the  evening  he  was  under  all  sorts  of  delusions  of  a 
more  or  less  unpleasant  character — seeing  writings  and  printed 
sheets  where  none  existed,  replying  to  questions  which  were  not 
asked,  etc.  Maudsley  says  that  the  real  cause  of  these  hallucina- 
tions is  not  the  morphia  but  the  cessation  of  the  chloral,  which 
seems  to  me  odd.  He  re-affirms  what  Marshall  said — that  the 
numbness  of  the  left  side  of  the  body  is  not  really  paralysis.  This 
numbness  seems  slightly  abated  now,  especially  so  far  as  the  arm 
and  hand  are  concerned. 

"Thursday,  December  22.  Called  round  at  Gabriel's,  and  spoke 
to  Watts,  Maudsley  being  absent  at  the  time.  Watts  says  that 
Gabriel  was  sleepless  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  nights ;  but  on 
Wednesday  night,  without  either  chloral  or  morphia  administered, 
he  got  some  five  or  six  hours'  sleep,  and  was  this  morning  sensibly 
better ;  knew  Watts,  and  conversed  sensibly  for  the  most  part. 
The  numbness  may  have  diminished  a  little.  I  was  not  minded  to 
see  Gabriel,  surmising  that  the  best  thing  for  him  is  to  be  left  as 
quiet  as  possible  ;  and  in  this  Watts  agreed  with  me." 

Between  the  above  date  in  my  Diary,  22  December 
1 88 1,  and  the  next  ensuing  date,  6  January  1882,  I  shall 
interpolate  a  professional  memorandum  by  Mr.  Maudsley, 
which  I  found  among  my  brother's  papers  after  his  death. 
It  is  worded  as  follows  : — 

"Thursday,  December  15-16. — 90  grains  of  chloral  and  |  pint 
of  brandy  in  2  doses,  at  intervals  of  4  hours,  9  p.m.  and  1  a.m. — 
Friday  [16]  4  minims  of  morphia  at  9  p.m.  ;  sleep  4  hours;  restless 

VOL.  I.  25 


386  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

and  craving  for  whiskey  and  chloral  till  3  a.m.  ;  i|  whiskey  at  5  a.m. 
— Saturday  [17]  restless,  but  condition  much  better.  At  9  p.m. 
5  minims  of  morphia ;  dozing  and  sleep  for  one  hour,  and  quiet 
until  12.  At  1  a.m.  craving  for  whiskey  and  chloral;  3  minims  of 
morphia.  At  2  a.m.  doze  for  a  short  time ;  then  restless,  craving 
for  whiskey;  2  oz.  of  whiskey  at  4  a.m. — Sunday  [18]  horrible 
dreams ;  restless  until  9  a.m.,  then  sleep  for  2  hours  ;  delusions 
towards  evening. — Monday  [20]  9  a.m.,  6  minims  of  morphia; 
quiet  sleep  till  12.  1  a.m.,  restless,  violent,  and  irritable; 
delusions  etc. ;  2  minims  of  morphia.  Restless  with  delusions  all 
day;  delusions  etc.,  night. — Tuesday  [21]  4  minims  of  morphia; 
restless,  no  sleep,  but  quiet ;  delusions.  No  chloral  or  whiskey. — 
Wednesday  [21]  ether  and  bromine;  quiet,  delusions.  No  morphia; 
sleep  8  hours. — Thursday  [22]  3  minims  of  morphia  at  9  p.m. ;  sleep 
quiet  ever  since." 

My  own  Diary  now  resumes  : — 

"Friday,  January  6,  1882.  In  the  evening  I  went  to  Gabriel's. 
He  has  for  some  days  past  been  down  in  his  studio,  and  the  numb- 
ness in  the  left  leg  is  now  greatly  diminished ;  in  fact  he  walks  about 
the  studio  without  any  sort  of  assistance,  and  very  much  as  before 
the  attack.  The  left  arm  he  still  regards  as  in  the  same  state  and 
much  the  same  degree  of  numbness.  I  suspect  however  that,  by 
a  proper  exertion  of  will,  he  would  find  it  not  so  very  much  amiss. 
Maudsley  urges  him  to  set  his  palette  to-morrow,  and  see  what  he 
can  do.  Gabriel's  spirits  are  still  extremely  low — the  uncertainty  as 
to  his  being  able  to  resume  his  profession  as  a  painter  weighing 
painfully  upon  him.  I  saw  (copied  out  by  Sharp)  the  verses  '  To 
an  Old  Enemy,'  which  Buchanan  has  prefixed  to  his  latest  novel 
God  and  the  Man.  They  are  generally,  and  I  think  correctly, 
assumed  to  be  addressed  to  Gabriel,  and  they  certainly  form  a 
handsome  retractation  of  past  invidious  attacks.  Gabriel  thinks  the 
verses  may  really  be  intended  for  Swinburne  [but  I  don't  believe  that 
he  long  persisted  in  any  such  supposition]. 

"Friday,  January  13.  Evening  with  Gabriel.  He  can  now 
make  a  little  use  of  his  left  hand  for  helping  himself  at  meals  etc.  ; 
and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  evening  he  was  conversible  and 
fairly  cheerful,  though  always  much  depressed  when  he  speaks  of  his 
blighted  professional  prospects  etc. 


CUMBERLAND   AND   LONDON — FINAL   ILLNESS.         387 

"  Monday,  January  23.  Evening  with  Gabriel.  He  is  now,  I 
think,  somewhat  better,  in  body  and  mental  tone  combined,  than  at 
any  time  since  his  return  from  Cumberland  ;  yet  his  spirits  are  still 
low,  and  his  left  arm  partially  numbed.  Morphia — water."  [This 
last  jotting  means  that  by  this  date  the  injections  of  morphia  had 
been  so  far  reduced  that  at  last  mere  water  was  substituted ;  but 
my  brother  was  not  allowed  to  know  that  fact.] 

Mr.  Scott,  in  speaking  of  this  attack  of  quasi-paralysis, 
says  :  "  He  was  carried  upstairs  to  bed,  and  never  came  down 
again."  This,  as  will  be  seen  from  my  Diary,  is  one  more 
instance  of  a  rooted  habit  of  inaccuracy.  My  brother  was 
carried  upstairs  on  11  December.  He  was  down  "  some 
days  "  before  6  January  (it  was  in  fact  on  29  or  30  December), 
and  he  continued  coming  down.  Not  only  this,  but  he  called 
in  our  mother's  house,  in  Torrington  Square,  Bloomsbury, 
no  less  than  four  times  between  14  January  and  I  February. 
A  fair  inference  from  Mr.  Scott's  statement  is  that  he  can 
never  have  gone  round  from  his  own  house  in  Cheyne  Walk 
to  that  of  my  brother  after  the  close  of  188 1  or  so.  He  says 
also  that  Mr.  Morris  asked  him  "  if  I  really  thought  Rossetti 
so  ill,  or  was  he  only  acting,  to  keep  those  about  him  in 
suspense."  It  would  be  for  Mr.  Morris  to  say  whether  he 
has  here  been  correctly  reported.  I  am  not  myself  aware  of 
any  reason  he  could  have  had  for  conjecturing  that  Rossetti 
might  be  "  acting,"  though  he  had,  like  other  old  friends, 
sufficient  cause  for  knowing  that  the  invalid  was  fanciful. 
But,  as  Mr.  Caine  has  told  us,  Rossetti  ceased  even  to  be 
fanciful  when  the  origin  of  the  fancies,  the  chloral-dosing, 
had  ceased,  and  my  own  experience  of  the  facts  mainly 
confirms  Mr.  Caine's. 

Mr.  Maudsley,  his  beneficial  work  being  done,  finally 
quitted  my  brother's  house  on  27  January.  The  nurse,  Mrs. 
Abrey,  still  remained,  and  she  continued  with  the  patient  till 
his  dying^  day,  always  efficient,  kindly  disposed  towards  him 
and  others,  and  cheerful-tempered.  As  Mr.  Marshall  con- 
sidered that  my  brother  ought  now  to  get  change  of  air, 
I    suggested   to  the  latter  that  a  desirable   place  might  be 


388  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Birchington-on-Sea,  near  Margate — a  new  marine  health- 
resort  where  our  excellent  and  long-tried  friend  Mr.  John 
P.  Seddon  had  built  a  number  of  bungalows,  or  one-storied 
residences.  Dante  liked  the  idea.  He  wrote  to  Mr.  Seddon, 
and  received  a  prompt  response  that  a  bungalow  would  be 
placed  at  his  disposal,  and  even,  by  sanction  of  the  owner 
Mr.  Cobb,  free  of  expense.  This  last  item  was  really  not 
needed.  Still,  it  was,  from  all  points  of  view,  pleasing,  and 
my  brother  gratefully  accepted  the  offer.  Mr.  Caine,  ever 
ready  to  accommodate  him,  went  down  to  Birchington  at 
the  end  of  the  month  to  make  requisite  arrangements,  and 
on  4  February  he  and  Rossetti  travelled  thither  in  company. 
There  was  also  Caine's  sister,  a  nice  girl  of  thirteen,  now  an 
actress  of  repute.  As  my  brother's  letter  of  3  February  shows, 
he  had  hoped  that  our  mother  and  Christina  could  come  as 
well  ;  but  both  were  in  a  risky  state  from  colds,  and  the 
family-doctor,  Mr.  Stewart,  would  not  for  the  present  allow 
it.  The  house  was  at  that  time  named  Westcliff  Bungalow 
— now  Rossetti  Bungalow,  in  Rossetti  Road  ;  and  I  might 
add  here  that  the  houses  built  along  my  brother's  old  garden- 
space  in  Cheyne  Walk  are  termed  Rossetti  Mansions.  Mr. 
Scott  must  surely  be  mistaken  in  saying  that  "  the  young 
Doctor  "  (Mr.  Maudsley)  was  along  with  Rossetti  on  his  road 
to  Birchington. 

Mr.  Scott  gives  another  sentence — but  not  quite  his  final 
one — to  Rossetti. 

"  The  picture  I  have  drawn  had  been  a  painful  one  to  witness  in 
the  original,  and  has  been  only  less  so  to  indicate  in  narrative,  even 
carefully  omitting  the  most  repulsive  elements  of  the  scene." 

What  these  "  most  repulsive  elements  of  the  scene "  may 
have  been  I  confess  myself  unable  to  surmise.  To  me  it 
seems  that  Mr.  Scott  was  at  some  pains  to  make  the  scene 
more  repulsive  than  in  fact  it  was.  But,  if  he  found  "  the 
picture  a  painful  one  to  indicate  in  narrative,"  a  very  obvious 
question  arises — Why  did  he  indicate  it  ?  He  was  professing 
to  write  "  Autobiographical  Notes,"  and  the  doings  or  mis- 


CUMBERLAND   AND   LONDON— FINAL   ILLNESS.         389 

doings  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti — apart  from  the  aid  which 
he  most  constantly  and  determinately  lent  to  this  friend's 
reputation  as  poet  and  painter,  among  acquaintances  and 
with  the  pubfic — formed  no  part  of  the  Autobiography  of 
William  Bell  Scott. 

Let  me  briefly  recur  to  Miss  Lily  Hall  Caine,  and  her 
published  reminiscences  of  my  brother.  These  are  only,  it 
is  true,  the  reminiscences  of  a  child  ;  but  they  are  evidently 
vivid,  and  I  recognize  in  them  several  points  which  I  know 
to  be  accurately  put.  They  bear  strong  testimony  to  the 
fact  that  Dante  Rossetti,  even  in  the  closing  months  of  his 
life,  was  very  far  other  than  harsh  or  morose,  or  so  much  as 
invariably  gloomy  and  despondent.  Miss  Caine  was  first 
introduced  to  him  in  Cheyne  Walk,  shortly  before  the 
departure  for  Birchington.     She  says,  inter  alia  : — 

"  He  chatted  quite  gaily  [at  the  first  introduction]  until  dinner 
was  ready.  I  had  never  met  a  man  so  full  of  ideas  interesting  and 
attractive  to  a  child ;  indeed,  now  that  I  look  back  on  it,  I  feel  that 
Mr.  Rossetti  was  wondrously  sweet,  tender,  and  even  playful,  with  a 
child.  .  .  .  On  this  journey  [for  Birchington]  from  Cheyne  Walk  to 
the  Station  he  talked  all  the  way,  and  had  tales  to  tell  me  of  every 
conspicuous  object  that  came  into  view.  We  travelled  by  the 
London,  Chatham,  and  Dover  Railway,  and,  as  the  porter  was 
labelling  the  luggage,  Mr.  Rossetti  took  me  by  the  hand.  We  were 
interested  in  the  porter's  operations,  and  Mr.  Rossetti  was  amused 
at  the  Company's  initial  letters — '  L.  C.  D.  R.'  '  Why,  Lily,'  said  he, 
'  they  knew  we  were  coming.  That  stands  for  Lily  Caine  and  Uante 
Rossetti.' " x 

1  As  regards  the  house  in  Cheyne  Walk  Miss  Caine  makes  a  statement 
which  I  do  not  well  understand.  She  says  that  somewhere  in  the  house 
(one  might  infer  in  the  studio)  there  was  a  very  large  and  bad  picture,  "  as 
vulgar  as  a  signpost "  (signboard  must  be  meant),  which  Rossetti,  when 
"  a  student  of  art,"  had  bought  for  ^3,  although  the  upset-price  ironically 
demanded  was  ,£3,000.  I  cannot  recollect  any  picture  corresponding  to 
this  description.  There  was,  however,  in  the  dining-room  (not  the  studio), 
a  well-sized  picture,  which  my  brother  bought  some  while  after  he  had 
settled  in  Cheyne  Walk  ;  and  as  to  the  purchase  of  some  picture  or  other 
(I  believe  it  was  this  one)  he  used  to  tell  an  amusing  story  not  much  unlike 


390  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

XLI. 

BIRCHINGTON-ON-SEA. 

The  village  or  "  ville  "  of  Birchington,  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet, 
is  an  ancient  locality,  traceable  into  Saxon  times.  I  see  the 
name  recorded  in  a  map  of  Kent  dated  1645.  The  oldest 
portions  of  the  church  belong  to  the  later  twelfth  century. 
As  a  seaside  resort  however  the  place  is  very  recent — little 
having  been  done  for  tourist  or  residential  purposes  until 
Mr.  Seddon  took  the  work  in  hand.  The  Bungalow  which 
Rossetti  tenanted  is  a  good-looking  wooden  erection,  without 
being  a  beautiful  one.  Its  interior  is  conveniently  laid  out 
for  an  invalid — "a  long  corridor,  and  rooms  on  either  side. 
At  the  further  end  was  the  drawing-room,  running  the  width 
of  the  house."  It  stands  conveniently  near  the  railway- 
station,  yet  not  so  close  as  to  interfere  with  habits  of  retire- 
ment. Here  Rossetti,  spite  of  some  wayward  distaste  at  the 
first  alighting,  settled  down,  without  (I  should  say)  any 
troublesome  craving  to  get  away  again. 

"  The  sands  are  numbered  that  make  up  my  life  : 
Here  must  I  stay,  and  here  my  life  must  end." 

At  Birchington  my  brother  at  first  took  some  short  walks  ; 
and  he  continued  free  from  delusions,  though  not  always,  I 
consider,  from  some  rather  fanciful  or  oblique  impressions. 
These  may  have  been  due  to  the  morphia  which  he  took  to 
a  moderate  extent — no  longer  injected,  but  as  a  dose. 
Digestive  inconveniences  which  now  gave  him  a  great  deal 
of  harass  are  likely  to  have  depended  largely  on  the  same 
cause.  The  weather  was  not  severe  for  the  season,  but  at 
times  there  was  a  great  deal  of  wind  ;  and  this  wind,  a  most 
untoward  circumstance,  constantly  blew   from    the  land,  so 

the  above.  It  was  a  well-painted  picture,  though  hard — Flemish  or  Dutch, 
towards  1600;  the  subject  being  a  woman  (with  two  or  three  other  figures) 
making  gaufres  or  hearth-cakes.  At  the  sale  of  Rossetti  s  effects  it  fetched 
fifty  guineas. 


BIRCHINGTON-ON-SEA.  391 

that  Rossetti  got  no  restorative  sea-breezes.  His  health,  it 
is  manifest,  was  really  always  going  from  bad  to  worse.  Yet 
this  was  not  so  clearly  apparent  from  day  to  day  as  might 
have  been  expected.  The  local  physician,  Dr.  Harris,  proved 
attentive  and  discerning,  and  he  acted  in  concert  with  written 
advice  received  from  Mr.  Marshall.  After  a  while  (more 
especially,  I  believe,  from  indications  to  which  Christina  had 
called  his  notice)  he  pronounced  that  kidney-disease  had 
supervened.  From  the  middle  of  March  my  brother  had  to 
keep  his  bed  to  a  great  extent,  though  not  by  any  means 
without  intermission. 

On  2  March  our  mother  and  Christina,  being  at  length 
under  medical  leave  to  do  so,  went  down  to  Birchington, 
and  there  they  stayed  until  all  was  over.  Our  mother  was 
now  not  far  from  eighty-two  years  old.  Christina,  aged  fifty- 
one,  was  always  more  or  less  an  invalid  in  these  years. 
The  effort  therefore  on  their  part  was  a  somewhat  serious 
one,  willingly,  or  rather  gladly,  as  it  was  undertaken.  It 
would  be  superfluous  for  me,  and  only  derogatory  to  them, 
to  speak  of  the  devotion  with  which  they  ministered  to  the 
beloved  son  and  brother.  Mr.  Caine  was  almost  always  there  ; 
his  sister  left  not  long  before  the  end  ;  Mr.  Watts  went  from 
time  to  time,  and  was  more  than  welcome  ;  Mr.  Shields  also 
once  or  twice,  and  Mr.  Sharp  ;  Mr.  Leyland,  who  was  spending 
the  time  on  and  off  at  Ramsgate,  was  also  an  assiduous  and 
a  highly  sympathizing  visitor.  "  Watts  is  a  hero  of  friend- 
ship "  was,  according  to  Mr.  Caine,  one  of  my  brother's  last 
utterances,  easy  enough  to  be  credited. 

Rossetti  continued  painter  and  poet  to  the  last.  At  Birch- 
ington he  went  on  with  the  pictures  for  Mr.  Valpy,  Proserpine 
and  Joan  of  Arc,  but  I  doubt  whether  this  can  have  been 
persisted  in  beyond  the  month  of  February.  Possibly  the 
very  last  thing  he  produced  in  art  was  a  sketch  or  two 
aiming  to  show  the  characteristic  aspect  of  our  father  ;  for 
some  such  memento  was  asked  for,  through  Teodorico 
Pietrocola-Rossetti,  from  Vasto,  with  a  view  to  the  designing 
and  erection  of  a  statue  (a  project  not  yet  actually  carried 


392  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

out),  and  Dante  would  not  entirely  neglect  the  request, 
though  he  knew  that  he  could  no  longer  do  justice  to  it.  I 
possess  the  slight  sketches — not  wholly  unlike,  but  too 
shakily  done  for  any  practical  service.  As  to  poetry,  he 
finished  at  the  end  of  March  his  old  grotesque  ballad  Jan 
Van  Hwtks ;  and  even  later  than  that,  5  April,  he  dictated 
to  Caine  two  sonnets  relevant  to  his  design  of  The  Sphinx. 
I  have  always  considered  that  his  taking  up  on  his  deathbed 
that  extremely  grim  and  uncanny  though  partly  bantering 
theme  of  Jan  Van  Hunks — a  fatal  smoking-duel  with  the 
devil,  who  trundles  soul  and  body  off  to  hell — furnished 
a  strong  attestation  of  the  resolute  spirit  in  which  my 
brother  contemplated  his  own  end,  rapidly  approaching 
and  (by  himself  still  more  than  by  any  others)  clearly  fore- 
seen ;  for  a  man  who  is  in  a  panic  as  to  his  own  prospects  in 
any  future  world  would  be  apt  to  drop  any  such  subject  like 
a  hot  coal.  He  enjoyed  immensely  writing  the  ballad,  so 
Miss  Caine  says,  "  and  laughed  with  us  as  he  read  it  bit  by 
bit  every  night."  At  some  other  times  also,  according  to  this 
lady,  he  was  in  high  spirits  ;  and  on  one  occasion  he  told  her 
some  tales  from  the  Arabian  Nights,  which  he  saw  her 
reading,  and  other  amusing  stories.  It  is  only  too  obvious 
however  that  at  some  other  times  his  spirits  were  low — as 
low  as  his  sorely  obstructed  energies,  and  his  life  fast 
flickering  to  extinction. 

He  read  various  books  at  Birchington,  or  got  them  read 
to  him  by  Christina — most  or  all  of  them  novels — Miss 
Braddon's  Dead  Men's  Shoes,  Dickens's  Tale  of  Two  Cities, 
Wilkie  Collins's  Dead  Secret,  and  others. 

Two  of  the  last  things  my  brother  did  consisted  in  holding 
a  little  correspondence  with  his  old  and  highly  genial  friend 
Mr.  Joseph  Knight  (afterwards  his  biographer),1  and  with  the 

1  In  his  Life  of  D.  G.  Rossetti,  p.  109,  Mr.  Knight  says  that  the  letter 
which  he  received  from  my  brother  was  "  the  last  letter  ever  written  by 
Rossetti,  dated  5  April  1882":  but  on  p.  179  he  quotes  the  letter 
verbatim,  giving  its  date  as  "  5  March  '82."  I  have  no  doubt  that 
"  March  "  is  correct.     In  that  case,  it  might  still  be  that  this  was  the  last 


BIRCHINGTON-ON-SEA.  393 

French  art-writer,  M.  Ernest  Chesneau.  Mr.  Knight  had 
published,  in  the  French  serial  Le  Livre,  a  very  handsome 
article  on  Rossetti's  Ballads  and  Sonnets.  My  brother  wrote 
in  cordial  acknowledgement  on  5  March,  signing  with  the 
pathetic  phrase — "  With  love  from  all  that  is  left  of  me,  yours 
affectionately."  With  M.  Chesneau  the  correspondence 
opened  with  a  letter  from  that  very  accomplished  writer 
and  worthy  gentleman  (whom  I  knew  personally  later  on)  at 
some  date  in  February,  and  concluded  with  his  letter  of 
2  April,  only  a  week  prior  to  my  brother's  death.  As  far 
back  as  1868  M.  Chesneau  had  sent  to  Rossetti  his  book 
Les  Nations  Rivales  dans  I'Art,  and  had  received  a  reply  at 
some  length,  from  which  a  quotation  is  made  in  Section  XIII. 
He  was  now  bringing  out  another  book,  La  Peinture 
Anglaise,  and  sought  some  information  from  Rossetti,  not 
only  about  his  own  works  in  painting,  but  generally  about 
the  Prasraphaelite  movement.  My  brother  furnished  several 
details  in  answer  ;  and,  being  favoured  with  a  copy  of 
Chesneau's  remarkable  romance  named  La  Chimere,  bearing 
a  striking  frontispiece  by  Gustave  Moreau,  he  wrote  to  the 
French  author  expressing  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  inventive 
and  artistic  value  of  this  design.  I  think  it  must  have  been 
the  first  thing  of  Moreau's  that  he  ever  saw  ;  for,  in  or  about 
1880,  having  heard  Moreau  spoken  of  as  a  man  of  mark,  he 
had  enquired  of  me  what  his  paintings  were  like,  and  I 
replied  that  they  had  something  of  the  quality  of  Burne- 
Jones  intermixed  with  that  of  the  Flemish  painter  Wiertz. 
This,  his  last  letter  to  Chesneau,  was  (I  assume)  his  last  letter 
in  this  world,  and,  save  for  the  two  sonnets  on  The  Sphinx, 
about  the  latest  thing  he  did  at  all  except  to  resign  himself 
into  the  arms  of  Death.  There  is  some  pleasure  in  reflecting 
that  he  was  thus  true  till  the  end  to  one  of  his  most  con- 
spicuous qualities — that  of  praising  with  eagerness  and  energy 

letter  written  by  Dante  with  his  own  hand,  though  I  hardly  suppose  so  ; 
but  it  was  certainly  not  the  last  which  he  composed  and  dictated.  The 
last  of  this  kind  (for  1  cannot  assume  it  to  have  been  holograph)  was  to  all 
appearance  the  one  which  M.  Chesneau  acknowledged  on  2  April. 


394  DANTE  GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

the  work  of  such  contemporaries  as  he  at  all  valued,  were 
they  painters  or  poets. 

Our  mother  in  these  years  kept  a  short  Diary.  From  the 
opening  days  of  1881  it  stands  in  Christina's  handwriting. 
Its  terms  are  neither  much  detailed  nor  strongly  emotional, 
but  it  furnishes  some  particulars  not  uninteresting  in  this 
connexion.     I  extract  here  and  there  : — 

"  2  March,  Thursday.  I  and  Christina  went  to  Westcliff  Bunga- 
low, Birchington-on-Sea  (a  large  one-storied  commodious  residence 
lent  by  Mr.  John  Seddon),  to  visit  Gabriel,  who  is  staying  there  with 
his  trained  nurse  Mrs.  Abrey,  and  Mr.  Hall  Caine,  and  his  sister 
Lily  (thirteen  years  old),  endeavouring  to  gain  health  and  strength, 
and  in  particular  to  recover  the  use  of  his  left  hand.  But  I  was 
grieved  indeed  to  find  him  much  wasted  away,  suffering,  and  in  a 
measure  depressed,  though  making  us  most  welcome,  and  chatty 
enough  on  general  subjects. 

"  4  March,  Saturday.  Fuller  particulars  from  Mrs.  Abrey  about 
poor  Gabriel's  very  ailing  state.     Mr.  Watts  came  down. 

"  6  March,  Monday.  Gabriel  complains  of  something  new  in  his 
foot,  which  Mr.  Watts  confidently  pronounces  a  touch  of  gout.  In 
the  evening  Mr.  Martin,  our  very  kind  and  helpful  neighbour, 
looked  in.  He  is  a  builder  in  connexion  with  Mr.  John  Seddon, 
and  also  keeps  the  Westcliff  Hotel  and  Boarding-house  close  by. 

"  7  March,  Tuesday.  Gabriel,  suffering  from  his  foot,  kept  his 
bed  nearly  all  day,  and  so  doing  was  fairly  comfortable. 

"  10  March,  Friday.     Lily  Caine  returned  home  to  Liverpool. 

"18  March,  Saturday.  Mr.  John  Seddon,  and  his  brother  Major 
Seddon,  called ;  Mr.  Sharp  came  down. 

"  24  March,  Friday.  Gabriel  consulted  Dr.  Harris,  who  says 
there  is  no  paralysis,  and  nothing  he  judges  irremediable,  but  a 
serious  condition  of  nerves.  He  prescribed  at  once,  and  will 
communicate  with  Mr.  Marshall.  He  resides  near  the  Birchington 
Railway-station,  and  was  highly  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Alcock  [the 
Rector]. 

"  March  26,  Sunday.  Christina  went  to  Holy  Communion. 
While  in  church,  the  wind  rose  so  that  she  got  home  with  difficulty, 
helped  by  a  good-natured  man,  three  times  taking  refuge  in  cottages, 
and  at  last  taking  a  fly.     Mr.  Leyland  called. 


DEATH  AND  FUNERAL.  395 

•    "  March   28,   Tuesday.     Mr.   Watts  came  down  ;  Gabriel  rallied 
marvellously." 

This  is  the  last  cheerful  item  which  it  is  allowed  me  to 
record  concerning  my  brother ;  I  am  glad  that  it  stands 
associated  with  the  name  of  Theodore  Watts. 


XLII. 

DEATH  AND  FUNERAL. 

The  final  sentence  in  my  brother's  Family-letters  runs,  "  It  is 
quieter  now."  It  was  soon  to  be  still  quieter  for  him,  and 
that  for  ever. 

On  25  March,  the  day  after  I  had  returned  to  London  from 
a  little  lecturing  at  Wolverhampton,  I  received  from  Christina 
a  letter  giving  decidedly  bad  news  of  our  brother.  I  deter- 
mined to  go  to  Birchington  on  Saturday,  I  April,  and  mean- 
while I  consulted  Mr.  Marshall.  What  followed  was  set 
down  by  me  in  terms  dismal  enough  : — 

"  Saturday,  April  1.  Went  to  Birchington.  Found  Gabriel  in  a 
very  prostrate  condition  physically,  barely  capable  of  tottering  a  few 
steps,  half  blind,  and  suffering  a  good  deal  of  pain.  At  least  he 
feels  all  this,  whether  it  is  or  is  not  dependent  on  a  morbid  state  of 
the  perceptions.  In  spirits  he  is  not  worse  than  might  be  expected ; 
talks  with  reason,  though  not  with  animation,  on  any  subject  that 
offers.  He  is  writing  some  tale,  but  I  don't  know  details  [I  have 
since  learned  that  he  had  taken  up  anew  his  old  story  St.  Agnes  of 
Intercession,  but  he  did  not  finish  nor  even  progress  with  it]  ;  has 
not  attempted  any  painting-work  for  some  weeks. 

"  Sunday,  April  2.  Gabriel,  feeling  a  sensation  (I  believe  delusive) 
of  oppressed  breathing,  sent  round  for  the  local  doctor,  Harris,  who 
has  attended  him  various  times.  I  was  present  at  the  conference, 
and  afterwards  spoke  at  some  length  to  Harris  in  private.  His 
opinion — as  had  before  been  intimated  to  me — is  that  the  brain  is 
affected,  probably  some  degree  of  softening  of  the  brain,  consequent 
upon  abuse  of  chloral  etc.  He  regards  this  as  the  one  nucleus  of 
all   the   symptoms — bad   sight,  moveless   arm,  etc. — which   are   in 


396  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

themselves  delusions,  but  not  at  all  delusions  as  being  impressions 
deriving  from  the  wrong  condition  of  the  brain.  He  thinks — as 
we  all  do — that  the  great  thing  would  be  to  get  Gabriel  occupied; 
but  how  to  attain  this  point  is  the  unsolved  problem.  Thinks  also 
that  some  such  treatment  as  that  of  a  physician  at  Malvern,  among 
other  patients,  would  be  better  than  the  dull  seclusion  of  Birching- 
ton.  But,  when  I  explained  Gabriel's  detestation  of  new  faces  etc., 
he  admitted  this  to  be  an  obstacle.  He  thinks  it  quite  possible  that 
Gabriel  may  again  do  good  intellectual  work,  but  of  course  the 
tendency  of  the  disease  is  to  weaken  the  mind.  All  this  is  very 
disheartening — not  to  me  surprising.  I  shall  probably  soon  speak 
again  to  Marshall  on  the  subject.  Left  Birchington  about  7 — all  of 
us  sufficiently  low-spirited." 

I  came  away  from  the  Bungalow  with  a  firm  conviction 
that  my  brother  had  not  long  to  live,  coupled  with  the  feeling 
(I  do  not  scruple  to  admit  it)  that,  rather  than  that  so  luminous 
an  intellect  should  be  reduced  to  feebleness  or  torpor,  it  were 
far  better  to  die.  My  Diary  shows  a  few  other  particulars, 
as  especially  that  there  was  an  idea  of  calling  in  Sir  Andrew 
Clarke  for  consultation  ;  but  it  aids  me  little  now,  as  I  only 
kept  it  on  with  regularity  to  5  April,  and  then  broke  it  off  till 
9  August.  In  leaving  Birchington  on  2  April,  1  had  settled 
to  return  for  some  days  beginning  on  the  7th,  which  was 
Good  Friday.  I  did  so,  Mr.  Watts  bearing  me  company. 
Mr.  Marshall  also  had  undertaken  to  attend,  for  the  case  was 
then  known  to  be  urgent,  as  too  clearly  shown  by  the  following 
brief  extracts  from  my  mother's  Diary  : — 

"  April  4,  Tuesday.  After  Gabriel  had  passed  a  very  suffering 
day  in  his  own  room,  Christina  sat  up  till  about  1  o'clock,  reading  to 
him.     Dr.  Harris  came  twice. 

"April  5,  Wednesday.  Dr.  Harris,  after  investigation,  gives  a 
most  serious  opinion  of  poor  Gabriel's  state. 

"  April  6,  Thursday.  Gabriel  so  drowsy  and  sinking  that  William 
and  Mr.  Watts  were  telegraphed  to.  I  sat  up  till  about  midnight, 
when  Christina  took  my  place  till  past  six  in  the  morning. 

"  April  7,  Good  Friday.  The  drowsiness  continues.  William  in 
great  grief,  and  Mr.  Watts,  arrived.    Mr.  Leyland  called,  affectionately 


DEATH   AND   FUNERAL.  397 

concerned  at  the  unforeseen  alarm.  In  consequence  of  Gabriel's 
having  one  night  expressed  to  Mrs.  Abrey  some  inclination  to  see 
Mr.  Alcock,  the  Rector,  having  been  informed  of  this,  called  late  in 
the  evening,  and  prayed  with  him — I  and  Mr.  Watts  uniting. 

"  April  8,  Saturday.  Kind  Mr.  Martin  had  an  awning  put  up  to 
keep  the  sick-room  cool.  Mr.  Shields  hurried  down,  but  could  not 
see  Gabriel  at  once,  and  slept  here.  Mr.  Marshall  arrived ;  met  Dr. 
Harris  in  consultation ;  declared  all  the  present  urgent  symptoms  to 
point  clearly  to  uraemia  (blood-poisoning  from  uric  acid) ;  and  took 
instant  vigorous  measures  to  expel,  if  possible,  the  poison  from  the 
system.  To  produce  perspiration,  Gabriel  was  wrapped  in  a  hot 
sheet,  and  made  very  hot  in  bed,  besides  medicine  being  adminis- 
tered. The  blessed  result  ensued  of  his  regaining  a  more  natural 
appearance,  and  rallying  to  a  less  inert  general  condition.  Food, 
heat,  and  medicine  (though  no  solid  food),  were  kept  up  through  the 
night,  the  greater  part  of  which  Christina  passed  keeping  Nurse 
company  at  the  bedside.  Mr.  Marshall  missed  his  up-train,  and  so 
remained  on  the  spot  for  the  night.  Mr.  Alcock  called,  and  read, 
and  we  think  prayed,  alone  with  Gabriel,  exhorting  him  to  simple 
trust  in  God  and  our  Saviour. 

"  April  9,  Easter-day.  Mr.  Marshall  left  soon  after  9  o'clock, 
leaving  word  for  me  (I  was  not  yet  up)  that  Gabriel  continued  to 
hold  his  own.  He  also  says  that,  as  soon  as  manageable,  Gabriel 
ought  to  quit  Birchington  as  being  too  cold  for  him,  and  had  best 
simply  return  to  Chelsea.  I  gather  that  the  illness  is  very  serious, 
but  not  hopeless.  Christina  missed  church,  after  sitting  up  towards 
seven  in  the  morning.  Mr.  Leyland  came  ;  Mr.  Alcock  paid  Gabriel 
a  short  bedside  visit.1 — We  had  arranged  to  sit  up,  I  till  10,  William 
till  2,  Christina  last ;  when  suddenly,  just  after  nurse  and  Mr. 
Watts  together  had  put  a  poultice  on  Gabriel's  back  (Mr.  Watts 
had  but  just  left  the  room,  nurse  was  attending  to  the  fire,  I  was 
by  the  bed,  rubbing  Gabriel's  back),  Gabriel,  who  was  sitting,  fell 
back,  threw  his  arms  out,  screamed  out  loud  two  or  three  times  close 
together,  and  then  lay,  breathing  but  insensible.  Nurse  raised  the 
alarm.  Mr.  Watts  hurried  back,  and,  one  on  each  side,  they  held 
Gabriel  down ;  but  there  was  not  the  slightest  struggle  or  return  of 

1  These  preceding  words  for  9  April  must  have  been  written  at  some 
moderately  early  hour  of  that  day ;  what  follows  was  evidently  written  on 
10  April. 


398  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

consciousness.  All  assembled  round  the  bed.  Mr.  Shields  flew  for 
Dr.  Harris,  and  in  the  shortest  time  returned  with  him.  Gabriel 
still  breathed,  but  that  was  all.  Dr.  Harris  once  or  twice  said  he 
still  lived — then  said  he  was  dead.  This  took  place  shortly  after 
nine  o'clock  p.m.  Gabriel  had  scarcely  breathed  his  last  when  Lucy, 
having  travelled  all  day  from  Manchester,  arrived.  The  instant  cause 
of  death,  assigned  by  Dr.  Harris,  was  that  the  urasmic  poison  touched 
the  brain  ;  and  he  afterwards  assured  us  that  there  was  no  pain." 

I  also,  on  the  evening  of  10  April,  jotted  down  an  account 
of  our  great  loss.     It  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  Marshall,  having  stayed  over  Saturday  night,  saw  Gabriel  along 
with  Dr.  Harris  ;  but  I  did  not  see  Gabriel  until  after  Marshall  had 
left  Birchington.  Went  in  to  Gabriel  soon  afterwards,  and  sat  with 
him  a  considerable  while — the  nurse  Mrs.  Abrey  in  and  out  of  the 
room.  His  complexion  was  much  more  natural  and  less  livid  than 
the  previous  day,  but  the  lips  not  a  good  colour ;  less  wheezing 
than  on  Friday,  and  not  more  than  on  Saturday;  eyes  somewhat 
clearer.  He  talked  but  little  at  any  time  of  the  day.  Did  not  seem 
extremely  melancholy,  but  languid,  and  not  roused  to  any  serious 
effort  of  attention ;  utterance  indistinct  (same  on  two  previous  days). 
He  said  twice  during  the  day  to  me,  "  I  believe  I  shall  die  to-night,' 
in  a  calm  voice,  not  emotional.  Also  said,  '  Yesterday  I  wished  to 
die,  but  to-day  I  must  confess  that  I  do  not.'  I  replied  that  he 
ought  not  to  wish  to  die,  but  rather  to  continue  working  with 
energy,  and  producing  fine  things.  Every  now  and  then  he  would 
sit  up  and  forward  on  the  bed,  and  I — sometimes  nurse — rubbed 
his  back  with  a  circling  motion  of  the  hand.  I  was  in  and  out  of 
the  room  various  times,  with  Leyland  once  or  twice.  Went  up  on 
the  roof  with  Caine,  to  remedy  the  flapping  of  a  tarpaulin  which  lay 
along  there,  being  part  of  an  awning  which  Martin  had  on  previous 
day  erected  outside  Gabriel's  window.  I  asked  more  than  once  to 
read  to  Gabriel  (intending  to  propose  Ecclesiastes),  but  he  did  not 
wish  it ;  said  '  Perhaps  later.'  \Ecclesiastes  had  been  profoundly 
impressive  to  my  brother  in  boyhood  and  early  youth ;  and  this 
book,  along  with  the  more  moving  and  spiritual  portions  of 
the  Gospels — I  say  nothing  of  dogmatic  matter  deducible  from 
the  Epistles — may  be  said  to  have  formed  the  staple  of  his  religious 
faith,  such  as  it  was.]     Towards  5  I  assisted  nurse  to  put  on  his 


DEATH   AND   FUNERAL.  399 

loins  a  large  linseed-and-mustard  poultice,  and  his  drawers  were  put 
on  at  same  time — -both  processes  much  against  his  will,  as  he 
disliked  and  dreaded  the  heat  in  bed.  He  often  demanded  to  have 
both  off;  but  this  was  wrong,  and  could  not  be  granted.  Nurse 
and  I  both  reasoned  with  and  coaxed  him  on  the  subject.  I  was 
called  to  dinner  towards  7 ;  and,  lingering  afterwards  in  talk 
with  friends,  did  not  re-enter  Gabriel's  room  till  (say)  10  minutes 
to  g — my  mother,  Watts,  and  nurse,  then  with  him.  The  poultice 
had  by  that  time  been  renewed,  but  I  was  not  aware  of  the  fact. 
He  was  drowsy,  and  not  taking  any  particular  part  in  what  was 
going  on.  My  mother  having  said  that  she  was  to  leave  the  room 
at  ro,  and  Christina  to  succeed  her  through  the  night,  I  said  I 
would  come  at  10,  and  stay  till  2,  and  then  Christina  could  succeed 
me;  and  meanwhile  I  would  lie  down  till  10.  Entered  drawing- 
room  just  about  9,  lay  down  on  sofa,  and  pretty  soon  dozed.  Was 
roused  towards  9.20  by  Shields  rushing  into  the  room,  and  loudly 
summoning  me  to  come  at  once  to  Gabriel.  Found  him  with  head 
leaning  over  towards  right,  eyes  starting  but  nearly  closed,  mouth 
open  and  twitching.  He  drew  hard  breaths  at  intervals.  Shields 
ran  for  Dr.  Harris,  who  came  in  towards  9.30.  On  entering  he 
replied  to  our  enquiries  that  Gabriel  was  still  alive.  He  then 
proceeded  to  use  the  stethoscope,  but  it  did  not  give  the  indication 
of  breathing,  and  Harris  pronounced  Gabriel  dead.  Gabriel  had, 
just  before  Shields  entered  the  drawing-room  for  me,  given  two 
violent  cries,  and  had  a  convulsive  fit,  very  sharp  and  distorting  the 
face,  followed  by  collapse.  All  this  passed  without  my  personal 
cognizance.  He  died  9.31  p.m.;  the  others — Watts,  mother, 
Christina,  and  nurse,  in  room ;  Caine  and  Shields  in  and  out ; 
Watts  at  Gabriel's  right  side,  partly  supporting  him." 

To  these  details — painful  to  write,  to  remember,  and  to 
transcribe — I  am  only  disposed  to  add  that  on  the  evening 
of  Good  Friday  my  brother  had,  under  the  guidance  of  Mr. 
Watts,  made  his  will,  and  I  fancy  he  had  never  done  the 
like  before.  He  left  all  his  property  in  equal  shares  between 
Christina  and  myself.  Christina,  being  at  once  apprised  of 
this,  absolutely  refused  to  have  her  name,  rather  than  that 
of  our  mother,  in  the  will.  It  was  explained  to  her  that  this 
had   been   done   merely   as    the    more    convenient   practical 


400  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

arrangement  of  the  two — the  mother  and  daughter  being 
inseparably  united  in  life,  and  the  daughter  being  the  more 
probable  survivor.  But  Christina  was  immoveable  in  her 
resolve,  and  so  the  name  of  our  mother  was  immediately 
substituted  for  Christina's  in  the  will.  As  to  any  money- 
details  arising  out  of  the  will,  I  limit  myself  to  saying  that, 
after  paying  off  my  brother's  debts  (chiefly  sums  due  to 
Mr.  Valpy  and  Mr.  Graham  in  relation  to  pictures  unfinished), 
and  after  the  sales  of  his  household  and  decorative  effects  and 
of  his  remaining  works  of  art,  there  was  a  substantial  sum 
divisible  between  the  legatees.  Two  exhibitions  of  his  paint- 
ings and  designs,  covering  the  whole  of  his  career,  were  held, 
but  not  under  the  control  of  the  family  ;  one  being  at  the 
Royal  Academy's  winter  exhibition  of  1883,  and  the  other  at 
the  Burlington  Fine-Arts  Club  in  the  same  year  ;  there  was  a 
third,  a  private  speculation,  called  the  Rossetti  Gallery,  in 
Bond  Street. 

As  mentioned  in  my  mother's  Diary,  my  wife  arrived  at 
Westcliff  Bungalow  almost  as  soon  as  Dante  had  drawn  his 
latest  breath.  She  had  been  on  a  visit  to  her  father  in 
Manchester ;  but,  receiving  my  intimation  of  the  precarious 
and  almost  desperate  condition  of  her  brother-in-law,  she 
hurried  southwards.  On  13  April  also  Charlotte  Polidori, 
the  aunt  to  whom  some  of  the  Family-letters  are  addressed, 
and  who  had  so  often  established  a  claim  to  Dante's  gratitude, 
joined  the  mourners  in  the  Bungalow.  These  arrivals  were 
a  great  boon  to  all  of  us  ;  my  wife's  of  course  to  me  more 
especially,  and  Charlotte's  to  my  mother — for  the  dear  tie  of 
sisterhood  between  these  two  had  always  been  peculiarly 
close. 

I  proceed  with  some  extracts  from  my  mother's  Diary  : — 

"April  10,  Easter  Monday.  A  telegram  sent  by  William  brought 
from  London  a  man  from  Brucciani's  to  take  a  cast  of  Gabriel's 
face  and  hand  [these  casts  were  taken  with  no  less  skill  than  that 
which  the  Brucciani  firm  always  command ;  but  it  is  a  fact  that  the 
head  proved  extremely  disappointing  to  all  of  us,  and  seems  barely 
to  suggest  what  my  brother  was  like].     Gabriel  looked  quite  peaceful, 


DEATH   AND   FUNERAL.  401 

with  a  tendency  towards  a  smile.  Mr.  Shields  made  a  drawing  of 
him  [this  was  done  at  my  request,  and  it  was  a  truly  self-sacrificing 
act  of  Shields,  the  most  high-strung  and  susceptible  of  men,  and  my 
brother's  devoted  friend,  to  whom  such  a  task  was  a  wrench  indeed  : 
I  possess  the  drawing,  and  the  artist  afterwards  made  a  copy  of  it, 
presented  to  Christina].  Lucy  went  with  Christina  and  William  to 
the  Rectory,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  Mr.  Alcock,  who  accom- 
panied the  three  to  the  churchyard,  where  a  spot  was  chosen  for  the 
dear  grave.  Mr.  Martin,  with  his  usual  kindness,  undertakes  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  funeral. 

"April  12,  Wednesday.  Mr.  Sharp  arrived,  bent  on  having  a 
last  look. 

"  April  14,  Friday.  Mr.  Alcock  performed  the  funeral  simply  and 
solemnly.  Besides  myself,  Christina,  William,  Lucy,  and  Charlotte, 
there  were  present — Messrs.  Graham,  Leyland,  Watts,  Caine,  Hueffer, 
John  Seddon,  Stephens,  Boyce,  Aldam  Heaton,1  Martin,  Sharp, 
Philip  Marston,  and  Shields,  and  Dr.  Harris.  Herbert  Gilchrist  and 
two  others  attended  spontaneously  [the  two  others  were  Judge 
Vernon  Lushington,  and  Mr.  Murray  Marks,  the  art-dealer :  the 
former  had  been  an  admirer  and  genial  acquaintance  of  my  brother 
ever  since,  if  not  before,  the  days  of  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
Magazine].  In  the  evening,  Charlotte,  William,  Lucy,  Christina,  and 
Mr.  Shields,  returned  to  the  churchyard,  to  place  on  the  grave 
(already  closed  and  peaceful,  under  a  turf  mound)  a  most  beautiful 
wreath  of  flowers  which  we  believe  was  the  one  sent  by  Lady 
Mount-Temple,  and  brought  by  Mr.  Graham.  A  number  of  floral 
decorations  were  contributed  by  different  friends.  Philip  Marston 
presented  a  wreath  of  bay ;  the  Leylands,  wreaths  and  a  lovely 
white  cross  ;  Mr.  Sharp,  a  cross  of  primroses.  I  placed  on  the  grave 
a  bunch  of  simple  flowers,  among  which  were  woodspurge  [this  was 
of  course  in  memory  of  Dante's  poem  The  Woodspurge]  and  forget- 
me-nots.  Christina  had  gathered  these  in  the  grounds  and  con- 
servatory." 

1  Mr.  John  Aldam  Heaton,  now  well  known  as  p.  Decorative  Artist  in 
London,  had,  while  settled  at  Bradford  in  Yorkshire,  known  my  brother  on 
an  intimate  footing  from  about  1861  to  1874.  A  serious  difference  then 
arose  between  them.  My  brother  had  right  on  his  side,  but  he  showed 
more  of  permanent  resentfulness  than  should  be  unreservedly  approved. 
We  at  all  events  were  glad  to  make  peace  with  Mr.  Heaton  over  the 
open  grave. 

VOL.  I.  26 


402  DANTE  GABRIEL  ROSSETTI. 

Besides  the  persons  above  mentioned  as  attending  the 
funeral,  some  others  had  been  asked,  but,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  could  not  attend — Mrs.  Hueffer,  Eliza  Polidori, 
Burne-Jones,  Bell  Scott,  Swinburne,  Dunn,  Dr.  Hake,  John 
Marshall,  Tebbs,  and  Valpy.  Madox  Brown  was  known  to 
be  unavoidably  so  engrossed  with  his  painting-work  in  Man- 
chester that  it  would  only  have  been  unkind  to  ask  him.  He 
had  been  in  London  towards  Christmas,  and  had  then  seen 
my  brother  two  or  three  times  with  his  unfailing  affection. 

I  take  leave  to  borrow  from  Mr.  Scott's  book  the  feeling 
letter  which  Judge  Lushington  wrote  to  him  on  this  occasion. 
The  few  words  given  to  the  church  and  the  churchyard 
realize  the  scene  well. 

"14  April. 

"  Dear  Mr.  Scott, 

"  I  think  you  will  like  to  hear  how  your  dear  friend  Gabriel 
Rossetti  was  buried,  so  I  will  tell  you — for,  thanks  to  your  kind 
telegram,  I  was  there.  I  had  hoped  to  see  you  there,  and  was 
grieved  to  hear  that  you  were  prevented  by  illness. 

"  The  church  at  Birchington  stands  back  about  three-quarters  of 
a  mile  from  the  sea,  on  slightly  rising  ground  which  looks  over  the 
open  land  and  the  sea.  It  is  of  grey  country  flint,  built  in  the  twelfth 
or  thirteenth  century,  and  restored  a  few  years  ago — I  thought, 
simply.  It  is  nicely  kept,  and  to-day  was  full  of  Easter  flowers.  It 
has  an  old  grey  tower,  and  grey  shingle  spire,  which  went  up,  as  I 
noticed  during  the  ceremony,  into  a  pure  blue  sky.  The  church- 
yard is  nicely  kept  too  ;  it  was  bright  with  irises  and  wallflowers  in 
bloom,  and  close  to  Gabriel's  grave  there  was  a  laurestinus  and  a 
lilac.  The  grave  is  on  the  south  side,  close  to  the  porch.  It  was  cut 
so  clearly  it  seemed  carved  out  of  the  chalk.  Altogether  it  was  a 
sweet  open  spot,  I  thought. 

"  At  the  graveside,  wonderful  to  say,  was  the  old  mother,  supported 
by  William  on  one  side  and  Christina  on  the  other — a  most  pathetic 
sight.  She  was  very  calm,  extraordinarily  calm,  but  whether  from 
self-command  or  the  passivity  of  age  I  do  not  know — probably  from 
both  j  but  she  followed  all  the  proceedings  with  close  interest.  Then 
around  was  a  company  of  about  fifteen  or  twenty  •  many  of  them 
friends  of  yours,  and  several  whom  I  did  not  know.     The  service  was 


DEATH    AND    FUNERAL.  403 

well  read  by  the  Vicar.  Then  we  all  looked  into  the  resting-place 
of  our  friend,  and  thought  and  felt  our  last  farewells.  Many  flowers, 
azaleas  and  primroses,  were  thrown  in.  I  saw  William  throw  in  his 
lily  of  the  valley.  This. is  all  I  have  to  tell  you.  Sad  it  was,  very 
sad,  but  simple  and  full  of  feeling,  and  the  fresh  beauty  of  the  day 
made  itself  felt  with  all  the  rest.  I  shook  hands  with  William,  and 
came  away  with  Mr.  Graham.  Dear  Gabriel,  I  shall  not  forget  him. 
"  I  hope  you  are  getting  better.  Pray  remember  me  to  Mrs. 
Scott." 

There  are  three  commemorations  of  Dante  Rossetti — his 
tombstone  in  Birchington  churchyard,  the  stained-glass  in 
the  church  itself,  and  the  fountain-and-bust  monument  out- 
side his  house  in  Cheyne  Walk. 

The  tombstone,  an  Irish  Cross,  was  designed  by  Madox 
Brown,  and  is  a  work  of  observable  excellence.  It  bears 
three  bas-reliefs — the  Temptation  in  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
the  Spiritual  Marriage  of  Dante  and  Beatrice,  and  the  Death 
of  St.  Luke,  the  patron  of  painters.  The  inscription,  which 
is  mine,  is  thus  worded  : — 

"  Here  sleeps  Gabriel  Charles  Dante  Rossetti,  honoured,  under 
the  name  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti,  among  painters  as  a  painter, 
and  among  poets  as  a  poet.  Born  in  London,  of  parentage  mainly 
Italian,  12  May  1828.  Died  at  Birchington,  9  April  1882.  This 
Cruciform  Monument,  bespoken  by  Dante  Rossetti's  mother,  was 
designed  by  his  lifelong  friend  Ford  Madox  Brown,  executed  by 
J.  and  H.  Patteson,  and  erected  by  his  brother  William  and  sister 
Christina." 

The  stained-glass  window,  near  the  font,  was  commissioned 
by  my  mother,  and  carried  out  by  Shields.  It  has  two  lights, 
the  first  being  Rossetti's  own  design  of  The  Passover  in  the 
Holy  Family,  and  the  second  by  Shields  himself,  Christ  leading 
the  Blind  Man  out  of  Bethsaida. 

The  monument  in  Cheyne  Walk  was  erected  by  a  sub- 
scription of  friends  and  admirers,  my  wife  being  the  chief 
subscriber.     The    fountain    is   the   design   of  John   Seddon  ; 


4^4  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

the  bust  of  Rossetti  was  executed  by  Madox  Brown  in  all  its 
details,  and  cast  in  bronze. 

And  so  Dante  Rossetti  rests  for  ever,  in  the  quiet  Kentish 
churchyard,  within  sight  and  distant  rumour  of  the  waves. 

"  Consider  the  sea's  listless  chime  ; 
Time's  self  it  is,   made  audible — 
The  murmur  of  the  earth's  own  shell. 
Secret  continuance  sublime 

Is  the  sea's  end :   our  sight  may  pass 
No  furlong  further.     Since  time  was, 
This  sound  hath  told  the  lapse  of  time. 
*  #  #  # 

"As  the  world's  heart,  of  rest  and  wrath, 
Its  painful  pulse  is  in  the  sands. 
Last  utterly,  the  whole  sky  stands, 
Grey  and  not  known,  along  its  path." 


XLIII. 

PERSONAL  DETAILS— EXTRACTS. 

So  much  has  been  said  about  Dante  Rossetti's  character  in 
the  preceding  pages,  here  and  there,  and  he  comes  out  so 
transparently  himself  in  the  Family-letters,  that  I  do  not  feel 
it  necessary  to  attempt  any  elaborate  portrait  of  him  in 
conclusion.  Still,  a  few  words  of  condensed  summary  may 
be  desirable. 

My  brother  was  essentially  a  man  of  the  artistic,  not  the 
ethical,  type.  From  day  to  day  and  from  year  to  year  his 
mind  was  occupied  much  more  with  ideas  of  art — and  in 
especial  how  to  paint  good  pictures,  and  write  good  poems, 
in  both  of  which  efforts  he  was  as  fastidious  in  execution  as 
he  was  free  and  energetic  in  invention — than  with  rigid  or 
nice  considerations  of  morals  or  conduct.  None  the  less,  his 
moral  sense  was  just,  if  somewhat  elastic.  He  prized  rectitude, 
disliked  and  shunned  meanness,  and  understood,  and  mostly 
conformed  to,  the  fine  impulses  of  honour.  He  appreciated 
the  generous  far  more  than  the  regulative  virtues.  It  may 
indeed  be  said  that  he  was  replete  with  generosity  of  mind, 


PERSONAL   DETAILS— EXTRACTS.  405 

feeling,  and  act.  The  very  core  of  his  character  was  self-will, 
which  easily  shelved  into  wilfulness.  As  his  self-will  was 
sustained  by  very  high  powers  of  intellect  and  of  performance, 
he  was  not  only  a  leader  but  a  dominator  all  his  life  long. 
On  that  footing  he  was  easy  and  agreeable  ;  any  other  footing 
would  have  been  troublesome  to  himself,  and  not  long  to  be 
pursued  by  others.  He  would  do  and  say  odd  things, 
unreasonable  things,  and  wrongful  things.  This  was  in  his 
nature — and,  until  he  was  reduced  to  subjection  (not  a  facile 
performance,  nor  accomplished  by  any  one),  he  would  persist 
in  this,  car  tel  est  won  vouloir.  In  thought,  deed,  manner, 
and  speech,  there  was  nothing  of  the  precisian  about  him 
If  there  had  been  somewhat  at  times,  that  would  have  been 
all  the  better.  Not  scrupulosity  was  his,  nor  moveless  fixity 
of  principle  ;  but  warmth  and  breadth  of  feeling  and  of 
perception.  He  was  impetuous  and  impatient,  but  by  no 
means  difficult  to  get  on  with  if  one  approached  him  from 
the  right  side.  He  could  be  managed  too,  but  not  driven. 
Nothing  in  him  stands  clearer  to  my  mind  than  his  total 
freedom  from  pretence,  pretension,  attitudinizing,  and  "  tall 
talk."  He  impressed  you  certainly  as  a  man  of  genius,  but 
not  in  the  least  as  one  who  made  his  genius  his  stalking- 
horse.  People  of  all  kinds  liked  him,  and,  on  seeing  him 
close,  loved  him.  And  I  could  not  fix  upon  one  who 
genuinely  disliked  him,  though  there  were  assuredly  several 
who  got  ruffled  and  angry,  and  of  these  some  may  even,  on 
occasion,  have  dogged  him  with  a  certain  animosity. 

I  have  sometimes  heard  it  suggested  that  Dante  Rossetti 
was  "  a  spoilt  child  "  ;  but  on  this  score  I  must  acquit  our 
parents  of  blame.  He  was  reasonably  and  heedfully  trained 
to  whatsoever  is  of  good  report.  His  tendencies,  for  good 
or  evil,  were  innate,  and  developed  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  his  life.  His  faults  were  his  own.  He  neither 
would  nor  could  be  a  leopard  without  leopardine  spots.  To 
avoid  being  a  jackal  or  a  hyaena  was  what  he  could  do,  and 
that  he  did. 

No  better  portrait  of  my  brother  has  been  given,  I  think, 


406  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

than  that  by  the  Reverend  Canon  Richard  Watson  Dixon, 
which  appears  in  Mr.  Caine's  book — possibly  a  too  fully 
laudatory  portrait.  Rossetti,  writing  to  Caine  towards  1880, 
described  the  Canon  as  "  an  admirable  but  totally  unknown 
living  poet.  His  finest  passages  are  as  fine  as  any  living  man 
can  do."  The  Canon  is  now  not  "  totally  unknown  "  as  a 
poet,  but  still  is  less  known  than  he  ought  to  be.  I  will 
extract  from  his  narrative  what  serves  my  present  purpose. 

"  My  knowledge  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  was  begun  in  connexion 
with  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  Magazine,  a  monthly  periodical 
which  was  started  in  January  1856.  Rossetti  contributed  to  it  The 
JBtirden  of  Nineveh,  The  Blessed  Damozel,  and  The  Staff  and  Scrip. 
The  Staff  and  Scrip  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  finest  of  all  Rossetti's 
poems,  and  one  of  the  most  glorious  writings  in  the  language. 
It  exhibits  in  flawless  perfection  the  gift  that  he  had  above  all 
other  writers — absolute  beauty  and  pure  action.  I  saw  Rossetti 
for  the  first  time  in  his  lodgings  over  Blackfriars  Bridge.  It  was 
impossible  not  to  be  impressed  with  the  freedom  and  kindness  of 
his  manner,  not  less  than  by  his  personal  appearance.  His  frank 
greeting,  bold  but  gentle  glance — his  whole  presence — produced 
a  feeling  of  confidence  and  pleasure.  His  voice  had  a  great  charm, 
both  in  tone  and  from  the  peculiar  cadences  that  belonged  to  it.  I 
chink  that  the  leading  features  of  his  character  struck  me  more  at 
first  than  the  characteristics  of  his  genius  ;  or  rather  that  my  notion 
of  the  character  of  the  man  was  formed  first,  and  was  then  applied 
to  his  works,  and  identified  with  them.  The  main  features  of  his 
character  were,  in  my  apprehension,  fearlessness,  kindliness,  a 
decision  that  sometimes  made  him  seem  somewhat  arbitrary,  and 
condensation  or  concentration.  He  was  wonderfully  self-reliant. 
These  moral  qualities,  guiding  an  artistic  temperament  as  exquisite 
as  was  ever  bestowed  on  man,  made  him  what  he  was — the  greatest 
inventor  of  abstract  beauty,  in  form  and  colour,  that  this  age, 
perhaps  that  the  world,  has  seen.  They  would  also  account  for 
some  peculiarities  that  must  be  admitted  in  some  of  his  works — 
want  of  Nature,  for  instance.  I  heard  him  once  remark  that  it  was 
'  astonishing  how  much  the  least  bit  of  Nature  helped  if  one  put  it 
in  ' ;  which  seemed  like  an  acknowledgment  that  he  might  have 
gone   more  to   Nature.     Hence,   however,   his  works  always  seem 


PERSONAL   DETAILS — EXTRACTS.  407 

abstract,  always   seem  to  embody  some  kind  of  typical   aim,  and 
acquire  a  sort  of  sacred  character. 

"  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  Rossetti  in  London,  and  afterwards  in 
Oxford  during  the  painting  of  the  Union  Debating-room.  I  saw 
him  occasionally  almost  to  the  time  of  his  lamented  death.  My 
recollection  of  him  is  that  of  greatness,  as  might  be  expected  of  one 
of  the  few  who  have  been  '  illustrious  in  two  arts,'  and  who  stands 
by  himself  and  has  earned  an  independent  name  in  both.  His  work 
was  great ;  the  man  was  greater.  His  conversation  had  a  wonderful 
ease,  precision,  and  felicity  of  expression.  He  produced  thoughts 
perfectly  enunciated  with  a  deliberate  happiness  that  was  indescri- 
bable ;  though  it  was  always  simple  conversation,  never  haranguing  or 
declamation.  He  was  a  natural  leader  because  he  was  a  natural 
teacher.  When  he  chose  to  be  interested  in  anything  that  was 
brought  before  him,  no  pains  were  too  great  for  him  to  take.  His 
advice  was  always  given  warmly  and  freely,  and,  when  he  spoke  of 
the  works  of  others,  it  was  always  in  the  most  generous  spirit  of 
praise.  It  was  in  fact  impossible  to  have  been  more  free  from 
captiousness,  jealousy,  envy,  or  any  other  form  of  pettiness,  than 
this  truly  noble  man.  The  great  painter  who  first  took  me  to  him 
[Burne-Jones,  I  have  no  doubt]  said,  '  We  shall  see  the  greatest 
man  in  Europe.'  I  have  it  on  the  same  authority  that  Rossetti 's 
aptitude  for  art  was  considered  amongst  painters  to  be  no  less 
extraordinary  than  his  imagination.  For  example,  that  he  would 
take  hold  of  the  extremity  of  the  brush,  and  be  as  certain  of  his 
touch  as  if  it  had  been  held  in  the  usual  way  ;  that  he  never  painted 
a  picture  without  doing  something  in  colour  that  had  never  been 
done  before ;  and  in  particular  that  he  had  a  command  of  the 
features  of  the  human  face  such  as  no  other  painter  ever  possessed. 
I  also  remember  some  observations  by  the  same  assuredly  competent 
judge  to  the  effect  that  Rossetti  might  be  set  against  the  great 
painters  of  the  fifteenth  century  [rather  perhaps  the  sixteenth  ?],  as 
equal  to  them  though  unlike  them  ;  the  difference  being  that,  while 
they  represented  the  characters  whom  they  painted,  in  their  ordinary 
and  unmoved  mood,  he  represented  his  characters  under  emotion, 
and  yet  gave  them  wholly.  It  may  be  added  perhaps  that  he  had  a 
lofty  standard  of  beauty  of  his  own  invention,  and  that  he  both 
elevated  and  subjected  all  to  beauty.  Such  a  man  was  not  likely 
to  be  ignorant  of  the  great  root  of  power  in  art ;  and  I  once  saw 
him  very  indignant  on  hearing  that  he  had  been  accused  of  irreligion, 


408  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

or  rather  of  not  being  a  Christian.     He  asked  with  great  earnestness, 
'  Do  not  my  works  testify  to  my  Christianity  ? ' " 

This  last  detail  is  interesting.  I  should  like  to  know  what 
date  it  applies  to.  That  my  brother  was  a  strict  doctrinal 
Christian  is  not  a  fact ;  but  he  had  an  earnest  reverence  for  a 
Christian  ideal,  and  a  delight  in  Christian  legend  and  symbol, 
and  an  antipathy  to  mere  arid  or  disputatious  negation.  If 
he  had  been  "  accused  of  not  being  a  Christian,"  in  such  a 
sense  as  to  imply  that  he  reviled  the  religion,  and  dissociated 
himself  from  it  root  and  branch,  I  can  well  understand  that 
he  may  have  gone  rather  to  an  opposite  extreme  in  repelling 
the  imputation.  On  the  general  bearings  of  this  matter  I 
have  already  had  something  to  say. 

Mr.  Joseph  Knight  aptly  observes,  "  To  be  his  friend  was 
in  a  sense  to  be  his  disciple."  He  found  Rossetti  "  essentially 
virile  and  robust,  a  little  stubborn,  and  dogmatic  in  tone — 
joyous  if  not  absolutely  mirthful."  1  question  however 
whether  the  epithet  "  dogmatic  "  hits  the  mark  exactly.  I 
should  prefer  "  determined,"  or  even  "  peremptory."  Rossetti 
was  always  wont  to  deal  in  concretes,  and  not  in  theoretic 
system.  "  In  his  youth  especially,"  says  Mr.  Coventry 
Patmore,  "he  had  the  sweet  and  easy  courtesy  peculiar  to 
his  nation  " — i.e.,  the  Italian  nation.  This  I  think  correct ; 
and  in  fact  I  must  always  regard  my  brother — spite  of  some 
ultra-John-Bullish  opinions  and  ways — as  more  an  Italian 
than  an  Englishman— Italian  in  temper  of  mind,  in  the  quasi- 
restriction  of  his  interest  to  the  beautiful  and  the  passionate, 
in  disregard  of  those  prejudices  and  conventions  which  we 
call  "  Philistine,"  in  general  tone  of  moral  perception.  And 
yet  he  was  mentally  very  far  from  being  like  his  Italian  father, 
and  was  wholly  unlike  his  Italian  grandfather.— And  now  for 
a  few  words  from  Mr.  Watts  x  : — 

"  Even  at  the  time  Mr.  Caine  depicts,  when  Rossetti  was  ill,  his 
intellectual  brilliance  showed   as   little  real   abatement  as   did  his 

1  From  his  article  The  Truth  about  Rossetti,  in  The  Nineteenth  Century, 
March  188^. 


PERSONAL   DETAILS— EXTRACTS.  409 

genius.  Late  in  the  night,  when  the  exhaustion  of  production  was 
recovered  from,  he  would,  even  to  the  last,  brighten  up  into  his  old 
self— a  self  that  had  hardly  a  match,  I  should  imagine,  among  his 
contemporaries.  The  rapidity  of  his  perceptive  powers  was  some- 
times bewildering.  Before  his  interlocutor  had  well  begun  his 
sentence,  Rossetti  had  taken  in  the  idea,  and  was  ready  with  his 
answer ;  an  answer  clothed  always  in  language  so  apt  and  so  perfect 
that  no  after-revision  could  have  improved  it.  His  wit,  though  not 
abundant  and  not  of  '  the  rarest  water,'  was  quite  unique.  It 
always  had  an  intellectual  basis,  and  seemed  a  singular  combination 
of  those  real  analogies  sought  by  the  logician  and  the  superficial  and 
fanciful  analogies  which  are  the  quest  of  the  mere  wit." 

To  my  brother's  appearance  I  have  referred  casually  in 
some  preceding  pages,  and  I  shall  add  but  little  now.  As  in 
mind,  so  in  body,  he  looked  to  me  rather  Italian  than  English, 
though  many  persons  entertained  a  contrary  notion.  Mr. 
Knight  (as  we  have  seen)  thinks  that  he  was  fairly  like 
Salvini,  and  so  do  I  ;  and  I  remember  that  Hueffer,  on 
returning  from  an  Italian  trip  towards  1872,  told  me  that, 
rather  to  his  surprise,  he  had  found  the  type  of  my  brother's 
face  to  be  a  very  usual,  almost  a  commonplace,  one  in  Italy — 
an  opinion  to  which  I  assent,  with  a  certain  demur.  My 
brother  became  eventually — not  in  boyhood  and  youth — 
something  like  our  father,  yet  not  in  such  a  way  as  would 
have  struck  an  ordinary  eye.  His  complexion,1  clear  and 
warm,  was  also  dark — not  dusky  or  sombre.  The  hair  was 
dark,  and  somewhat  silky  ;  the  full-sized  eyes  blueish-grey  ; 
the  brow  grandly  spacious  and  solid  ;  the  mouth  moderately 
well-shaped,  but  with  a  rather  thick  and  unmoulded  under- 
lip  ;  the  chin  unremarkable  ;  the  line  of  the  jaw,  narrow  and 
rather  tapering  in  youth,  was,  after  youth  had  passed,  full, 
rounded,  and  sweeping  ;  the  ear  well-formed,  and  rather  small 

1  Some  of  these  items  of  description  are  repeated,  without  much  modifica- 
tion, from  my  Preface  to  Dante  Rossetti's  Collected  Works;  being  true 
there,  they  must  be  equally  true  here,  and  I  need  not  beat  about  the  bush 
to  vary  them.  Other  telling  details  were  given  by  Mr.  Holman  Hunt,  as 
in  Section  XXX. 


4 TO  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

than  large.  His  bands  and  feet  were  small  ;  the  hands  quite 
in  character  for  an  artist  or  author — white,  delicate,  plump, 
and  soft  as  a  woman's.  Miss  Caine  correctly  notices  that  he 
had  a  rather  fidgeting  habit  of  nicking  (she  says  "  cracking," 
but  I  think  that  less  accurate)  his  right  thumb-nail  with  the 
nail  of  the  first  finger  ;  also  a  habit  of  shaking  very  rapidly, 
and  for  long  whiles  together,  the  foot  of  one  leg  crossed  over 
the  other.  His  general  aspect  was  compact  and  determined, 
with  the  facial  expression  of  a  fiery  and  dictatorial  mind 
concentrated  into  repose.  Some  people  regarded  him  as 
eminently  handsome,  and  no  one  could  call  him  other  than 
a  well-looking  noticeable  man.  In  habit  of  body  he  was  more 
than  sufficiently  indolent  and  lounging  ("  lolling  about,  and 
behaving  like  a  seal  on  a  sandbank,"  as  Smetham  expressively 
worded  it),  disinclined  to  any  prescribed  or  trying  exertion, 
yet  not  at  all  wanting  in  active  promptitude  whenever  it 
suited  his  liking.  He  often  seemed  merely  unoccupied, 
especially  of  an  evening  ;  the  brain  continued  busy  enough. 
A  reader,  to  be  sure,  he  was,  but  not  a  great  reader. 

"  Unto  the  man  of  yearning  thought 
And  aspiration,  to  do  nought 
Is  in  itself  almost  an  act, — 
Being  chasm-fire  and  cataract 
Of  the  soul's  utter  depths  unsealed. 
Yet  woe  to  thee  if  once  thou  yield 
Unto  the  act  of  doing  nought." 

Various  writers  will  have  it  that  Rossetti  cared  nothing  for 
the  beauties  of  Nature — was  indifferent  to  scenery  etc.  I 
think  this  an  exaggeration.  Italians  however  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  so  minute  in  observation  of  scenery,  so  full  of  "  gush  " 
over  hills  and  trees,  so  Wordsworthian  in  co-ordinating 
phenomena  and  emotion,  as  some  English  people  have 
become  :  the  Italians  are  open  rather  to  the  total  impression 
of  a  scene — whether  it  is  cheerful,  gloomy,  homely,  sublime, 
or  what  not.  In  this  relation  again  I  consider  my  brother  to 
have  been  much  more  Italian  than  English.  To  the  beauties 
pf  Nature  he  was  not  insensitive,  but  he  was  incurious,  and 


PERSONAL   DETAILS — EXTRACTS.  4II 

he  valued  them  more  as  being  so  much  fuel  to  the  fire  of  the 
soul  than  as  being  objects  of  separate  regard  and  analysis. 
For  him  the  Human  Being  was  always  the  Lord  of  Creation 
— the  recipient  and  transformer  and  transmitter  of  the  natural 
influences.  That  he  cared  very  little  for  descriptive  poetry  is 
perfectly  true — and  just  on  that  account ;  that  it  exhibits  and 
extols  objects  instead  of  turning  them  into  the  "  medium 
of  exchange  "  between  the  material  world  and  the  soul.  Still 
he  saw  for  himself  several  things  in  Nature,  both  in  mass  and 
in  detail ;  and  his  work  in  painting  and  in  poetry  testifies 
no  less. 

Rossetti  took  no  part,  and  belonged  to  no  party,  in  politics. 
He  had  ideas,  and  applied  them  to  national  as  well  as  other 
problems  ;  but  he  paid  no  attention  at  all  to  the  hourly  and 
yearly  scuffle  over  questions  of  practical  legislation  and 
administration,  whether  in  this  country  or  in  others.  He 
liked  enlightenment,  justice,  and  mercy,  in  public  affairs  ;  he 
disliked  obtuseness,  oppression,  injustice,  and  ruthlessness. 
I  cannot  call  him  either  Liberal  or  Conservative,  in  the 
current  acceptation  of  those  terms.  He  could  see  that  there 
was  right  in  liberty,  and  right  in  conservation.  In  British 
politics  he  was  neutral ;  in  Italian  politics — apart  from  a 
general  conviction  that  there  was  no  reason  why  Austrians 
should,  as  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  be  lording  it  over  Italians 
— he  was  neutral  also.  And  so  in  relation  to  other  nations. 
I  can  recollect  one  instance — there  may  have  been  others,  but 
certainly  few — in  which  he  expressed  a  decided  opinion  upon 
a  foreign  national  transaction.  It  was  when  all  the  hubbub 
arose  as  to  the  shooting  of  Maximilian,  the  so-called  Emperor 
of  Mexico.  He  asked  me  what  it  was  all  about  ;  and  I  feel 
pretty  sure  that  the  whole  affair  came  new  to  him.  I  ex- 
plained to  him  that  Maximilian  was  an  Austrian  prince  whom 
Napoleon  III.,  for  reasons  of  his  own,  had  imposed  upon  the 
Mexican  Republic  as  an  Emperor ;  that  Maximilian,  in  this 
character,  made  military  expeditions  against  Mexican  Re- 
publicans, and  shot  them  when  caught  ;  and  that  the  ousted 
Mexican  President,  Juarez,  finally  caught   Maximilian,  and 


412  DANTE    GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

shot  him  as  well.     My  brother  replied,  "  I  think  it  was  just," 

an  opinion  which  entirely  coincided  with  my  own.  Mr. 
Caine's  impression  is  that  "It  would  be  wrong  to  say  that 
he  was  wholly  indifferent  to  important  political  issues,  of 
which  he  took  often  a  very  judicial  view."  And  indeed  I 
think  that,  if  Rossetti  had  been  at  the  pains  of  forming  and 
formulating  opinions  on  current  questions  of  policy,  they 
would  frequently  have  been  found  correct  after  the  lapse  of 
a  few  years. 

1  shall  now  proceed  to  give  from  various  sources  some  of 
his  most  marked  observations  on  divers  subjects.  It  would 
perhaps  be  of  little  use  to  classify  them,  beyond  a  rough 
division  into  those  which  relate  respectively  to  fine  art,  to 
literature,  and  to  other  topics.  My  extracts  are  of  course 
faithful,  but  they  are  frequently  much  curtailed. 

Fine  Art. — Mr.  Holman  Hunt  says  with  regard  to  the  early 
days  in  the  Cleveland  Street  studio  : — 

"  We  spoke  of  the  improvement  of  design  in  household  objects — 
furniture,  curtains,  and  interior  decorations — and  dress  ;  of  how  we 
would  exercise  our  skill,  as  the  early  painters  had  done,  not  in  one 
branch  of  art  only,  but  in  all.  For  sculpture,  Rossetti  in  private 
expressed  little  regard.  He  professed  admiration  for  the  minds  of 
many  men  engaged  in  it ;  but  he  could  scarcely  understand  their 
devotion  to  work  which  seemed,  in  modern  hands,  so  cold  and 
meaningless,  and  which  was  so  limited  in  its  power  of  illustration. 
He  confessed  however  that  so  far  he  had  not  thought  of  it  enough. 
Music  he  regarded  as  positively  offensive  "  [and  I  regret  to  allow 
that  he  never  much  receded  from  this  narrowness  of  view  in  relation 
to  abstract  or  elaborate  music,  though  he  could  enjoy  an  opera,  or  a 
simple  tuneable  song]. 

Mr.  Caine  reports  : — 

"  I  asked  if  his  work  usually  took  much  out  of  him  in  physical 
energy.  '  Not  my  painting,  certainly,'  he  replied,  '  though  in  early 
years  it  tormented  me  more  than  enough.  Now  I  paint  by  a  set  of 
unwritten  but  clearly-defined  rules,  which  I  could  teach  to  any  man 
as  systematically  as  you  can  teach  arithmetic'  " 


PERSONAL   DETAILS— EXTRACTS.  413 

In  Paris,  in  1864,  he  was  much  delighted  with  the  paintings 
of  Millet,  who  was  not  then  of  the  world-wide  fame  which  he 
afterwards  attained  ;  and  he  spoke  of  this  name,  in  writing  to 
Mr.  George  Rae,  as  "  curiously  identical  with  that  of  our  best 
English  painter." 
.    Mr.  Sharp  says  : — 

"  I  once  asked  him  how  he  would  reply  to  the  asseveration  that  he 
was  the  head  of  the  '  Art-for-Art's-sake  '  school ;  and  his  response 
was  to  the  effect  that  the  principle  of  the  phrase  was  two-thirds 
absolutely  correct,  and  one-third  so  essentially  wrong  that  it  negatived 
the  whole  as  an  aphorism." 

From  letters  to  Mr.  Scott,  1871  : — 

"  Your  sorrows  in  connexion  with  that  infernal  word  quaint  recall 
my  own.  Only  quite  lately  I  had  it  revived  by  a  friendly  critic  on 
my  work,  though  a  lapse  of  years  had  occurred  since  I  last  heard 
it  in  such  relation,  and  I  had  hoped  it  and  I  had  parted  company. 
However,  it  will  be  '  in  at  the  death  '  with  both  of  us.  Good  God, 
I  cannot  see  the  faintest  trace  of  this  adjective  in  either  of  your 
etchings  which  you  mention.  By  the  bye,  on  this  point  I  have 
always  meant,  and  always  forgotten,  to  ask  if  you  noticed  an 
astounding  controversy  raised  in  Notes  and  Queries  about  a  wretched 
little  daub  of  mine  called  Greensleeves.  Bad  the  thing  is,  probably 
enough  ;  but  how  it  should  suggest  to  any  human  mind  the  maniacal 
farrago  conjured  up  in  these  letters  is  incomprehensible,  except  as 
revealing  to  one  the  degree  to  which  the  world  considers  oneself 
insane.1     On  reading  them  my  brain  whirled,  and  I  sent  to  Agnew 

1  The  utterances  in  Notes  and  Queries  about  Greensleeves  are  certainly 
surprising  enough.  They  begin  on  3  June  1871.  A  lady,  M.  M.  C,  had 
seen  the  picture  in  Messrs.  Agnew's  Exhibition  in  Manchester.  She  was 
fascinated  by  it,  but  could  not  make  it  out,  as  one  hand  of  the  personage 
seemed  to  be  living,  and  the  rest  of  her  figure  dead.  She  got  a  friend  to 
write  on  the  subject  to  Notes  and  Queries.  He  conjectured  that  the  living 
hand  must  be  touching  emblems  of  the  lady's  lover,  while  the  rest  of  her 
figure  indicated  a  state  of  suspended  vitality.  In  a  later  number,  29  July, 
Mr.  William  Chappell  opined  that  as  a  "Greensleeves"  was,  in  Tudor 
times,  a  sort  of  demirep,  the  lady  pictured  by  Rossetti  was  meant  to  have 
"  one  side  fair,  and  the  other  on  the  verge  of  the  grave." 


414  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTL 

for  the  thing,  to  see  if  it  bore  any  internal  explanation  with  it.  It 
seemed  a  poor  daub  when  examined,  but  certainly  innocent  of  the 
special  enormities  charged  to  it.  However,  once  having  laid  hands 
on  it,  I  gave  it  a  good  daubing  all  over,  and  transmogrified  it  so 
completely  (title  and  all)  as  to  separate  it  for  ever,  I  hope,  from  this 
Bedlam  correspondence — which,  by-the-bye,  I  find  revived  this 
week,  to  end  God  knows  when  or  where.  ...  It  would  really  be 
worth  your  while  one  day,  if  you  keep  Notes  and  Queries,  to  look 
back  at  the  first  of  these  Greensleeves  letters  :  it  would  enlarge  your 
ideas  as  to  the  gaping  astonishment  and  perverse  misconstruction 
of  which  we  were  writing  lately." 

Again,  1871  : — 

"Your  article  on  Leys  takes,  I  think,  quite  the  true  view,  and  is 
equal  to  its  important  theme.  However,  I  am  not  sure  that  you 
dwell  quite  strongly  enough  on  the  fascination  which  Leys's  intensity 
as  antiquarian  and  colourist  gives  him  even  to  the  most  ideal  class 
of  poetic  minds— though,  as  you  say,  it  be  quite  questionable 
whether  there  were  any  absolute  poetry  in  his  springs  of  action.  I 
am  much  concerned  to  find  that  you  have  alluded  in  no  way 
whatever  to  Wiertz,  whose  works  I  never  saw  (with  one  large  excep- 
tion, quite  noteworthy  enough  to  increase  curiosity),  but  who,  I  am 
sure,  must  have  been  the  greatest  mental  genius  (except  Leys  in  his 
very  different  walk)  whom  they  [the  existing  Belgian  school]  have 
had  yet." 

Phrases  reported  by  Mr.  Shields  : — ■ 

"  The  man  who,  on  seeing  a  work  with  claims  to  regard,  does  not 
perceive  its  beauties  before  its  faults,  is  a  conceited  fool.  I  am 
ashamed  to  belong  to  a  profession  in  which  the  possession  of 
intellect  is  rather  a  disqualification  than  an  advantage.  The  men 
of  imagination  in  England  have  always  been  as  a  persecuted  sect." 

Literature. — From  a  letter  to  Mr.  Caine  : — 

1 '  Surely  you  are  strong  enough  to  be  English  pure  and  simple. 
I  am  sure  I  could  write  ico  essays  (I  once  did  project  a  series 
under  the  title,  Essays  written  in  the  Intervals  of  Elephantiasis, 
Hydrophobia.  a?id  Penal  Servitude)  without  once  experiencing 
the  '  aching  void  '  which  is  filled  by  such  words  as  myt/wpceic  and 


personal  details — extracts.  .     415 

anthropomorphism.  I  do  not  find  life  long  enough  to  know  in  the 
least  what  they  mean.  They  are  both  very  long  and  very  ugly 
indeed — the  latter  only  suggesting  to  me  a  Vampire  or  Somnam- 
bulant  Cannibal.  To  speak  rationally — would  not  'man-evolved 
Godhead '  be  an  English  equivalent  ?  [This  shows  that  my  brother 
did  really  not  accurately  know  what  anthropomorphism  means.] 
Simple  English,  in  prose-writing  and  in  all  narrative  poetry  (how- 
ever monumental  language  may  become  in  abstract  verse),  seems  to 
me  a  treasure  not  to  be  foregone  in  favour  of  German  innovations." 
[The  context  relieves  Rossetti  from  the  suspicion  that  he  could  have 
supposed  the  two  impugned  words  to  be  of  Teutonic  stock.] 

From  another  letter  to  Mr.  Caine  : — 

"  I  wrote  the  tale  of  Hand  and  Soul  (with  the  exception  of  an 
opening  page  or  two)  all  in  one  night  in  December  1849,  beginning 
I  suppose  about  2  a.m.,  and  ending  about  7.  In  such  a  case  a 
landscape  and  sky  all  unsurmised  open  gradually  in  the  mind — a 
sort  of  spiritual  Turner,  among  whose  hills  one  ranges  and  in  whose 
waters  one  strikes  out  at  unknown  liberty.  But  I  have  found  this 
only  in  nightlong  work,  which  I  have  seldom  attempted,  for  it  leaves 
one  entirely  broken ;  and  this  state  was  mine  when  I  described  the 
like  of  it  at  the  close  of  the  story,  how  long  ago  !  " 

Mr.  Caine  observes  : — 

"  '  The  three  greatest  English  imaginations,'  he  would  sometimes 
add,  '  are  Shakespear,  Coleridge,  and  Shelley.'  I  have  heard  him 
give  a  fourth  name,  Blake.  He  thought  Wordsworth  was  too  much 
the  high-priest  of  Nature  to  be  her  lover."  [Shelley  has  implied 
much  the  same  in  his  admirable  Peter  Bell  the  Third — a  poem 
which  my  brother  read  for  the  first  time  in  1880;  and  he  then 
expressed  to  me  his  astonishment  at  its  brilliant  handling  of  a  theme 
so  little  Shelleyan.] 

Again  from  letters  to  Mr.  Caine  : — 

"  You  must  take  care  to  be  on  the  right  tack  about  Chatterton. 
I  am  very  glad  to  find  the  gifted  Oliver  Madox  Brown  already  an 
embryo  classic,  as  I  always  said  he  would  be  ;  but  those  who  com- 
pare nett  results  in  such  cases  cannot  know  what  criticism  means. 
Oliver  was  the  product  of  the  most  teeming  hotbeds  of  art  and 


416  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

literature.  Moreover  Chatterton,  at  his  death,  was  two  years 
younger  than  Oliver ;  a  whole  lifetime  of  advancement  at  that  age 
frequently — indeed  always,  I  believe,  in  leading  cases.  ...  I  must 
protest  finally  about  Chatterton  that  he  lacks  nothing,  because  lack- 
ing the  gradual  growth  of  the  emotional  in  literature  which  becomes 
evident  in  Keats— still  less  its  excess,  which  would  of  course  have 
been  pruned,  in  Oliver.  In  the  matter  of  Oliver  (whom  no  one 
appreciates  more  than  I  do),  remember  it  was  impossible  to  have 
more  opportunities  than  he  had,  or  on  the  other  side  fewer  than 
Chatterton  had." 

I  recur  to  Mr.  Caine's  narrative  : — 

"  Reverting  to  my  enquiry  as  to  whether  his  work  took  much  out 
of  him,  he  remarked  that  his  poetry  usually  did.  '  In  that  respect,' 
he  said,  '  I  am  the  reverse  of  Swinburne.  For  his  method  of  pro- 
duction inspiration  is  indeed  the  word.  With  me  the  case  is 
different.  I  lie  on  the  couch,  the  racked  and  tortured  medium, 
never  permitted  an  instant's  surcease  of  agony  until  the  thing  on 
hand  is  finished.'  It  was  obvious  that  what  Rossetti  meant  by 
being  racked  and  tortured  was  that  his  subject  possessed  him. 
Assuredly  impulse  was,  to  use  his  own  phrase,  fully  developed  in  his 
Muse.  [I  fancy  my  brother's  very  strong  expressions  were  a  little 
overstrained,  partly  to  give  glory  to  Mr.  Swinburne  by  contrast.  I 
never  witnessed  such  "  agony,"  nor  heard  him  speak  of  it.  His 
sonnet  The  Song-throe  however  proves  how  deeply  impressed  he 
was  with  the  conviction  that,  in  order  to  move  his  reader,  the  poet 
must  himself  be  moved.]  '  One  benefit  I  do  derive,'  Rossetti 
added,  '  as  a  result  of  my  method  of  composition.  My  work  becomes 
condensed.  Probably  the  man  does  not  live  who  could  write  what 
I  have  written  more  briefly  than  I  have  done.  All  poetry,  that  is 
really  poetry,  affects  me  deeply,  and  often  to  tears.  It  does  not 
need  to  be  pathetic  or  yet  tender  to  produce  such  a  result.'  " 

From  letters  from  Rossetti  to  Caine,  in  reference  to  that 
gentleman's  proposed  volume,  Sonnets  of  Three  Centuries  : — 

"  Sonnets  of  mine  could  not  appear  in  any  book  which  contained 
such  rigid  rules  as  to  rhyme  as  are  contained  in  Watts's  letter. 
[Rossetti  was  afterwards  satisfied  that  Watts  had  not  intended  the 
degree  of  rigidity  here  supposed.]     I  neither  follow  them,  nor  agree 


PERSONAL  DETAILS— EXTRACTS.  417 

with  them  as  regards  the  English  language.  Every  sonnet-writer 
should  show  full  capability  of  conforming  to  them  in  many  instances  ; 
but  never  to  deviate  from  them  in  English  must  pinion  both 
thought  and  diction,  and  (mastery  once  proved)  a  series  gains 
rather  than  loses  by  such  varieties  as  do  not  lessen  the  only  absolute 
aim — that  of  beauty.  The  English  sonnet,  too  much  tampered 
with,  becomes  a  sort  of  bastard  madrigal ;  too  much,  invariably, 
restricted,  it  degenerates  into  a  shibboleth.  I  would  not  be  too 
anxious,  were  I  you,  about  anything,  in  choice  of  sonnets,  except 
the  brains  and  the  music.  It  would  not  be  at  all  found  that  my 
best  sonnets  are  always  in  the  mere  form  which  I  think  the  best. 
The  question  with  me  is  regulated  by  what  I  have  to  say.  You 
have  much  too  great  a  habit  of  speaking  of  a  special  octave, 
sestett,  or  line.  Conception,  my  boy,  fundamental  brain-work — that 
is  what  makes  the  difference  in  all  art.  Work  your  metal  as  much 
as  you  like,  but  first  take  care  that  it  is  gold  and  worth  working. 
A  Shakespearean  sonnet  is  better  than  the  most  perfect  in  form 
because  Shakespear  wrote  it." 

From  a  letter  (apparently)  addressed  by  Rossetti  to  Mr. 
William  Sharp : — 

"  Above  all  ideal  personalities  with  which  the  poet  must  learn 
to  identify  himself  there  is  one  supremely  real  which  is  the  most 
imperative  of  all — namely,  that  of  his  reader.  And  the  practical 
watchfulness  needed  for  such  assimilation  is  as  much  a  gift  and 
instinct  as  is  the  creative  grasp  of  alien  character.  It  is  a  spiritual 
contact  hardly  conscious  yet  ever  renewed,  and  which  must  be 
a  part  of  the  very  act  of  production.  .  .  .  The  quality  of  finish  in 
poetic  execution  is  of  two  kinds.  The  first  and  highest  is  that  when 
the  work  has  been  all  mentally  '  cartooned,'  as  it  were,  beforehand, 
by  a  process  intensely  conscious  but  patient  and  silent — an  occult 
evolution  of  life." 

From  a  letter  to  Scott,  1853  : — 

"The  Life-drama  [of  Alexander  Smith]  has  nothing  particular 
to  say,  except  that  it  seems  to  bear  vaguely  towards  the  favourite 
doctrine  that  scoundrelism  is  a  sacred  probation  of  the  soul.     But  I 

VOL.   I.  27 


41 8  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

find  this  everywhere.  I  am  reading  Wilhelm  Meister,  where  the 
hero's  self-culture  is  a  great  process,  amusing  and  amazing  one. 
On  one  page  he  is  in  despair  about  some  girl  he  has  been  the  death 
of;  in  the  next  you  are  delighted  with  his  enlarged  views  of 
Hamlet.  Nothing,  plainly,  is  so  fatal  to  the  duty  of  self-culture  as 
self-sacrifice,  even  to  the  measure  of  a  grain  of  mustard-seed.  The 
only  other  book  I  have  read  for  more  than  a  year  is  St.  Augustine's 
Confessions,  and  here  you  have  it  again.  As  soon  as  the  Saint  is 
struck  by  the  fact  that  he  has  been  wallowing,  and  inducing  others 
to  wallow,  it  is  all  horrible  together,  but  involves  no  duty,  except 
the  comfortable  self-appeasement  of  getting  out  of  it  for  himself. 
As  for  the  women,  no  doubt  they  are  nascent  for  hell." 

From  another  letter  to  Scott,  1871  : — 

"  Browning's  poem,  Balaustion's  Adventure,  looks  alarming  before- 
hand. I  have  written  to  have  it  sent  me,  when  out.  However,  no 
doubt  there  will  be  plenty  to  admire  and  enjoy.  Browning  seems 
Ikely  to  remain,  with  all  his  sins,  the  most  original  and  varied  mind, 
by  long  odds,  which  betakes  itself  to  poetry  in  our  time." 

Again,  1871  : — 

"  Another  happy  man,  after  all,  seems  to  be  Allingham,  for  all 
his  want  of  'success.'  Nothing  but  the  most  absolute  calm  and 
enjoyment  of  outside  Nature  could  account  for  so  much  gadding 
hither  and  thither  on  the  soles  of  his  two  feet.  Fancy  carrying 
about  grasses  for  hours  and  days  from  the  field  where  Burns  ploughed 
up  a  daisy !  Good  God,  if  I  found  the  daisy  itself  there,  I  would 
sooner  swallow  it  than  be  troubled  to  carry  it  twenty  yards.  ...  I 
hardly  ever  do  produce  a  sonnet  except  on  some  basis  of  special 
momentary  emotion.  But  I  think  there  is  another  class  admissible 
also,  and  that  is  the  only  other  I  practise — viz.,  the  class  depending 
on  a  line  or  two  clearly  given  you,  you  know  not  whence,  and 
calling  up  a  sequence  of  ideas.  This  also  is  a  just  raison  d'etre 
for  a  sonnet ;  and  such  are  all  mine  when  they  do  not  in  some 
sense  belong  to  the  '  occasional '  class.  As  for  Commandments 
[the  poem  now  called  Soothsay],  the  three  verses  came  into  my 
head  during  a  walk,  and  I  think  of  carrying  it  further  probably — 


PERSONAL   DETAILS— EXTRACTS.  419 

only  such-like  verses  do  not  interest  me  much.  ...  I  had  some 
painting  task-work  to  do,  and  have  set  about  a  little,  not  task-work, 
also ;  and  these  have  kept  me  from  the  other  Muse,  who,  I  believe, 
after  all  is  my  true  mistress.  I  am  sure,  when  one  has  once  got  used 
to  brush-work,  one  cannot  somehow  do  without  it." 

To  Mr.  Gosse,  1873  :— 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  all  poetry,  to  be  really  enduring,  is  bound 
to  be  as  amusing  (however  trivial  the  word  may  sound)  as  any  other 
class  of  literature  ;  and  I  do  not  think  that  enough  amusement  to 
keep  it  alive  can  ever  be  got  out  of  incidents  not  amounting  to 
events,  or  out  of  travelling-experiences  of  an  ordinary  kind,  however 
agreeably,  observantly,  or  even  thoughtfully  treated.  I  would 
eschew  in  writing  all  themes  that  are  not  so  trenchantly  individu- 
alized as  to  leave  no  margin  for  discursiveness." 

Oliver  Madox  Brown,  writing  to  his  father  from  Kelmscott 
in  1874,  reports  : — 

"  Rossetti  seems  in  a  wonderfully  good  temper  at  present.  He 
has  had  several  long  discussions  with  me  on  the  subject  of  novel- 
writing,  from  which  I  see  plainly  that  he  has  great  facility  of  ex- 
pression, but  that  he  would  be  a  dangerous  preceptor.  Thackeray 
he  will  hardly  hear  the  name  of;  George  Eliot  is  vulgarity  personi- 
fied ;  Balzac  is  melodramatic  in  plot,  conceited,  wishywashy,  and 
dull.  Dumas  is  the  one  great  and  supreme  man,  the  sole  descendant 
of  Shakespear." 

These  are  slightly  surprising  utterances,  and  I  am  sure  they 
lost  nothing,  in  the  way  of  downrightness,  at  the  hands  of 
their  reporter.  That  my  brother,  in  his  maturer  manhood, 
read  Dumas  with  vastly  more  zest  than  the  other  three 
novelists  named,  is  decidedly  true  :  that  he  here  made  a 
mistake  is,  to  some  others  besides  myself,  by  no  means 
obvious.  Thackeray,  I  consider,  he  always  valued  within 
certain  limitations  ;  perhaps  he  hardly  read  him  at  all  after 
1855  to  1858  or  thereabouts.  I  scarcely  know  why — or 
whether — he  regarded  George  Eliot  as  "  vulgarity  personified." 


420  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

He  may  have  thought  that  there  was  in  her  a  considerable 
infusion  of  the  commonplace  tempering  the  stuck-up  ;  and 
I  remember  that,  when  Romola  first  appeared,  he  spoke  of 
it  to  me  as  totally  misapprehending  the  moral  temper  of 
those  times — which  (but  I  never  read  the  romance)  is  probably 
true.  Balzac  he  most  highly  admired  from  certain  points 
of  view,  and  he  certainly  rated  him  as  one  of  the  most 
intellectual  and  deep-probing  men  of  our  age  :  yet  he  may, 
in  a  one-sided  mood,  have  been  prepared  to  apply  to  his 
writings  the  epithets  set  forth  by  Oliver  Brown,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  "  wishywashy." 

From  a  letter  to  James  Smetham,  consequent  on  his  review 
of  Alexander  Smith  (in  the  London  Quarterly  Review),  1868  : — 

"  I  was  equally  delighted  with  what  you  say  about  DobelPs 
Keith l  of  Ravelston — not  only  because  you  have  so  flatteringly 
lugged-in  my  name  in  connexion  with  it,  but  because  I  have  always 
regarded  that  poem  as  being  one  of  the  finest,  of  its  length,  in  any 
modern  poet — ranking  with  Keats's  La  Belle  Dame  sans  Merci, 
and  the  other  masterpieces  of  the  condensed  and  hinted  order 
so  dear  to  imaginative  minds.  What  a  pity  it  is  that  Dobell 
generally  insists  on  being  so  long-winded,  when  he  can  write  like 
that !  There  is  a  snatch  of  sea-song  (about  the  Betsy  Jane)  in 
Balder  which  is  fifty  times  as  good  as  anything  in  Dibdin,  who 
is  nevertheless  not  contemptible." 

Two  notes  from  my  Diary,  May  1869  and  December 
1879:- 

"  Gabriel  has  written  several  new  sonnets.  His  practice  with 
poetry  is  first  to  write  the  thing  in  the  rough,  and  then  to  turn  over 
dictionaries  of  rhymes  and  synonyms  so  as  to  bring  the  poem  into 

1  Some  persons  seem  to  suppose  that  Rossetti  took  his  surname 
"  Keith"  in  Sister  Helen  from  Dobell's  Keith  of  Ravelston  (in  which,  had 
he  done  it,  there  could  be  no  harm)  ;  but  in  fact  Sister  Helen  was  written 
— I  think  it  was  even  published — before  Dobell  s  admirable  ballad  was 
in  print. 


PERSONAL   DETAILS — EXTRACTS.  421 

the  most  perfect  form.  .  .  .  Gabriel's  view  of  the  subject-matter  of 
my  Lectures,  The  Wives  of  Poets,  is  that  those  poets  who  have 
been  happy  with  their  wives  were,  although  truly  poets  in  perform- 
ance, personally  of  an  unpoetic  character,  conventionally  compliant 
etc. — such  as  Wordsworth  and  Walter  Scott." 

General  Subjects. — From  letters  from  Rossetti  to  Caine, 
following  an  offer  from  the  latter  to  dedicate  to  him  a 
Lecture  On  the  Relation  of  Politics  to  Art  :• — 

"  I  must  admit,  at  all  hazards,  that  my  friends  here  consider  me 
exceptionally  averse  to  politics ;  and  I  suppose  I  must  be,  for  I 
never  read  a  Parliamentary  Debate  in  my  life.  At  the  same  time 
I  will  add  that,  among  those  whose  opinions  I  most  value,  some 
think  me  not  altogether  wrong  when  I  venture  to  speak  of  the 
momentary  momentousness  and  eternal  futility  of  many  noisiest 
questions.  However,  you  must  simply  view  me  as  a  nonentity  in 
any  practical  relation  to  such  matters.  You  have  spoken  but  too 
generously  of  a  sonnet  of  mine,  in  your  Lecture  just  received 
[this  must  be  the  sonnet  On  Refusal  of  Aid  between  Nations].  I 
have  written  a  few  others  of  the  sort  (which  by-the-bye  would  not 
prove  me  a  Tory),  but  felt  no  vocation — perhaps  no  right — to  print 
them.  I  have  always  reproached  myself  as  sorely  amenable  to  the 
condemnations  of  a  very  fine  poem  by  Barberino,  On  Sloth  against 
Sin,  which  I  translated  in  the  Dante  volume.  Sloth,  alas,  has  but 
too  much  to  answer  for  with  me ;  and  is  one  of  the  reasons  (though 
I  will  not  say  the  only  one)  why  I  have  always  fallen  back  on 
quality  instead  of  quantity  in  the  little  I  have  ever  done.  Volition 
is  vain  without  vocation  ;  and  I  had  better  really  stick  to  knowing 
how  to  mix  vermilion  and  ultramarine  for  a  flesh-grey,  and  how 
to  manage  their  equivalents  in  verse.  To  speak  without  sparing 
myself — my  mind  is  a  childish  one  if  to  be  isolated  in  Art  is  child's 
play.  ...  I  have  been  thinking  yet  more  on  the  relations  of  politics 
and  art.  I  do  think  seriously  on  consideration  that  not  only  my 
own  sluggishness,  but  vital  fact  itself,  must  set  to  a  great  extent 
a  veto  against  the  absolute  participation  of  artists  in  politics.  When 
has  it  ever  been  effected?  True,  Cellini  was  a  bravo,  and  David 
a  good  deal  like  a  murderer ;  and  in  these  qualities  they  were  not 
without  their  political  use  in  very  turbulent  times." 


422  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

To  Mr.  Scott,  apropos  of  the  poem  Cloud  Confines,  1871  : — 

"  I  cannot  suppose  that  any  particle  of  life  is  extinguished, 
though  its  permanent  individuality  may  be  more  than  questionable. 
Absorption  is  not  annihilation  ;  and  it  is  even  a  real  retributive 
future  for  the  special  atom  of  life  to  be  re-embodied  (if  so  it  were) 
in  a  world  which  its  own  former  identity x  had  helped  to  fashion  for 
pain  or  pleasure." 

To  Mr.  Smetham,  1865  : — 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  think  no  better  of  me  for  pronouncing  the 
commonplace  verdict  that  what  you  lack  is  simply  ambition — i.e., 
the  feeling  of  pure  rage  and  self-hatred  when  any  one  else  does 
better  than  you  do.  This,  in  an  ambitious  mind,  leads  not  to  envy 
in  the  least,  but  to  self-scrutiny  on  all  sides, — and  that,  to  some- 
thing, if  anything  can.  You  comfort  yourself  with  other  things, 
whereas  Art  must  be  its  own  comforter,  or  else  comfortless." 

To  Alexander  Gilchrist,  1861,  relative  to  the  death  of 
Benjamin  Woodward,  the  Architect  of  the  Oxford  Museum, — 
also  in  1862  to  Mrs.  Gilchrist  on  her  husband's  death  : — 

"  I  must  have  been  the  last  friend  who  saw  Woodward  in 
England,  as  he  called  here  [14  Chatham  Place],  after  we  had  long 
been  unseen  by  each  other,  on  his  way  to  the  Station,  going  this 
last  time  to  Paris.  I  am  sitting  now  in  the  place,  and  I  think  in  the 
chair,  he  sat  in — to  write  this.  If  I  am  ever  found  worthy  to  meet 
him  again,  it  will  be  where  the  dejection  is  unneeded  which  I 
cannot  but  feel  at  this  moment ;  for  the  power  of  further  and  better 
work  must  be  the  reward  bestowed  on  the  deserts  and  checked 
aspirations  of  such  a  sincere  soul  as  his.  .  .  .  What  can  be  done 
except  to  trust  to  what  is  surely  a  natural  instinct  in  all  ? — that  is, 
that  such  terrible  partings  from  love  and  work  must  be,  unless  all 
things  are  a  mere  empty  husk  of  nothing,  a  guide  to  belief  in  a 
new  field  of  effort,  and  a  second  communion  with  those  loved  and 
lost." 

1  The  word  stands  printed  "  ideality  "  ;  but  surely  that  is  a  mistake. 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET — EXTRACTS.        423 

XLIV. 

ROSSETTI  AS  PAINTER  AND  POET— EXTRACTS. 

THROUGHOUT  the  writing  of  my  Memoir  no  question  has 
been  more  present  to  my  mind  than  this — whether  it  would 
or  would  not  behove  me  to  offer  in  concluding  some  remarks 
of  my  own  upon  the  general  measure  of  attainment  of  Dante 
Rossetti  as  painter  and  poet,  and  upon  the  quality  and  value 
of  his  work  in  the  two  arts.  Having  been  a  critic  of  fine 
art  and  of  poetry  all  my  life,  I  could  address  myself  to  the 
task  with  some  degree  of  self-confidence ;  and  I  can  safely 
say  that  my  praise  would  be  less  extreme,  and  my  strictures 
not  less  frank,  than  those  of  some  other  writers  on  the  subject. 
But  finally  I  have  decided  to  abstain  altogether,  and  to  leave 
readers  to  surmise  for  themselves  the  opinions  which  one 
brother,  of  very  minor  pretensions,  entertains  of  another  who 
has  made  a  considerable  figure  in  the  records  of  his  time. 
I  shall  limit  myself  to  extracting  a  few  observations  from  the 
large  amount  of  writing  of  which  Dante  Rossetti  has  been 
the  subject — writing  done  in  some  instances  by  the  men  who 
themselves  stand  foremost  as  painters  or  as  poets.  Of  opinions 
unvouched  by  the  author's  name  I  shall  take  no  count, 
though  some  of  these  also  are  well  known,  to  myself  and  to 
others,  to  emanate  from  persons  of  the  highest  qualifications. 
I  do  not,  in  my  extracts,  omit  some  comments  much  less 
than  eulogistic ;  but  I  do  omit  such  abuse  as  that  of  Mr. 
Robert  Buchanan  (long  ago  recanted  by  himself),  and  such 
theoretic  depreciation  as  that  of  Herr  Max  Nordau. 

Fine  Art. — From  the  speech  of  Sir  Frederick  Leighton, 
P.R.A.,  at  the  banquet  of  the  Royal  Academy,  1882  : — 

"  The  other  [he  had  already  said  something  about  John  Linnell, 
then  also  recently  deceased]  was  a  strangely  interesting  man,  who, 
living  in  almost  jealous  seclusion  as  far  as  the  general  world  was 
concerned,  wielded  nevertheless  at  one  period  of  his  life  [at  all 
periods  might  well  have  been  said]  a  considerable  influence  in  the 


424  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

world  of  Art  and  Poetry — Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti,  painter  and 
poet.  A  mystic  by  temperament  and  right  of  birth,  and  steeped l  in 
the  Italian  literature  of  the  middle  age,  his  works  in  either  art  are 
filled  with  a  peculiar  fascination  and  fervour,  which  attracted  to  him, 
from  those  who  enjoyed  his  intimacy,  a  rare  degree  of  admiring 
devotion." 

The  Royal  Scottish  Academy  passed  the  following  resolu- 
tion, 1882.  Probably  Sir  Noel  Paton  could  say  of  its  terms, 
"  Quorum  pars  magna  fui  "  : — 

"  The  Council  have  heard  with  much  regret  of  the  death,  on 
Sunday  last,  of  Mr.  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti,  whose  many-sided  and 
original  genius  and  high  accomplishments,  not  only  as  a  painter 
but  as  a  poet  also,  have  shed  a  lustre  on  the  artistic  profession. 
From  his  super-sensitive  aversion  to  exhibitions,  his  thoughtful  and 
imaginative  pictures  are  but  little  known  to  the  general  public ; 
but  his  influence  on  contemporary  English  art  has  confessedly  been 
very  great,  while  that  of  his  poetry  has  been  more  widely  and 
markedly  felt.  Probably  few  artists  of  more  distinct  individuality 
and  intellectual  force  ever  appeared;  and  his  removal  in  the  full 
maturity  of  his  power  cannot  but  be  regarded  as  a  heavy  loss  to 
art  and  literature." 

Holman  Hunt — with  regard  to  Rossetti  at  the  outset  of 
Prseraphaelitism  : — 

"  Rossetti,  with  his  spirit  alike  subtle  and  fiery,  was  essentially 
a  proselytizer,  sometimes  to  an  almost  absurd  degree,  but  possessed, 
alike  in  his  poetry  and  painting,  with  an  appreciation  of  beauty  of 
the  most  intense  quality." 

Frederic  G.  Stephens  : — 

"Excepting  one  or  two  later  works  of  the  master,  where  sentiment 
of  a  more  exalted  sort,  as  in  Proserpina,  inspired  the  designs,  The 
Beloved  appears  to  me  to  be  the  finest  production  of  his  genius. 
Of  his  skill,  in  the  high  artistic  sense,  implying  the  vanquishment 

1  Thus  printed.  But  perhaps  it  ought  to  run- — "  A  mystic  by  temperament, 
and  by  right  of  birth  steeped  in  the  Italian  literature  "  etc. 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET — EXTRACTS.       425 

of  prodigious  difficulties — difficulties  the  greater  because  of  his 
imperfect  technical  education — there  cannot  be  two  opinions  as 
to  the  pre-eminence  of  Mr.  Rae's  magnificent  possession.  It  in- 
dicates the  consummation  of  Rossetti's  powers  in  the  highest  order 
of  modern  art,  and  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  poetical  inspira- 
tion which  is  found  in  every  one  of  his  more  ambitious  pictures. 
This  example  can  only  be  called  Venetian,  because  of  the  splendid 
colouring  which  obtains  in  it.  The  intensity  of  Venetian  art  is 
exalted  (if  that  term  be  allowed)  in  a  modern  strain ;  while  its 
form,  coloration,  and  chiaroscuro,  are  most  subtly  devised  to 
produce  a  whole  which  is  thoroughly  harmonized  and  entirely  self- 
sustained.  Of  how  few  modern  instances  could  this  be  said ! 
Rossetti's  Beloved  is  in  English  art  what  Spenser's  gorgeous  and 
passionate  Epithalamiam  is  in  English  verse,  and,  if  not  more 
rapturous,  it  is  more  compact  of  sumptuous  elements." 

Harry  Ouilter  : — 

"In  an  age  when  painters  have  few  beliefs,  and  hold  those  very 
lightly,  this  man  scarcely  stirred  a  step  in  art  except  in  obedience 
to  his  own  inspiration,  and  was  strong  enough,  despite  all  his  fail- 
ings, to  modify  the  practices,  if  he  did  not  actually  change  the 
creeds,  of  half  the  artists  of  his  time.  To  him  Millais  owed  his 
poetical  inspiration,  and  his  most  beautiful  pictures  were  painted 
under  that  influence ;  to  him  Holman  Hunt  was  even  more  indebted 
[this  I  think  highly  disputable,  or  indeed  erroneous] ;  from  him, 
though  soon  able  to  strike  out  a  line  for  himself,  sprang  Mr.  Burne- 
Jones,  fully  equipped  for  the  fight,  like  a  second  Minerva  from  the 
brain  of  a  second  Jove ;  to  his  early  friendship  with  William  Morris 
at  Oxford  we  probably  owe  the  determining  influence  [also  disputable] 
which  set  the  author  of  The  Earthly  Paradise  on  the  road  to  that 
decoration  which  has  changed  the  look  of  half  the  houses  in  London, 
and  substituted  art  for  ugliness  all  over  the  kingdom ;  and  to  him 
probably,  if  we  could  trace  it  back,  we  owe,  almost  equally  with 
Ruskin  who  defended  him,  the  growth  of  the  feeling  that  art  was 
more  than  a  mere  trade,  and  that  an  artist  has  duties  to  himself 
and  his  art,  as  well  as  to  his  pocket  and  his  public.  In  the  minds 
of  hundreds  of  young  men  who  never  even  saw  him  there  lurked 
a  satisfaction  that  down  at  Chelsea  a  man  was  living,  painting,  and 


426  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

writing,  without  caring  a  brass  farthing  what  any  one  thought  of  his 
works ;  and,  though  I  do  not  mean  to  defend  the  morality  or  the 
wisdom  of  such  indifference,  I  do  mean  to  assert  that  it  is  the 
one  temper  that  produces  good  artistic  work.  The  place  of  his 
painting  is  even  harder  to  determine  [than  that  of  his  poetry]. 
Many  artists  would  tell  us  that  it  is  not  painting  at  all,  and  from 
one  point  of  view  they  would  be  right.  But  is  this  really  the 
question  ?  Who  shall  decide  what  is  and  what  is  not  painting, 
if  we  once  leave  the  broad  track  of  beautiful  colour  applied  to 
a  canvas  so  as  to  produce  a  beautiful  result  ?  And,  if  the  decision 
can  be  made  so  as  to  exclude  the  work  of  which  we  are  talking, 
we  should  have  to  consider  whether,  if  this  be  not  painting,  it  is 
not  something  else  than  painting  which  we  require.  It  is  at  all 
events — Art.  There  is  no  doubt  of  that ;  and  in  the  best  examples 
it  possesses  three  qualities,  which  it  is  excessively  rare  to  find  in 
combination.  It  is  at  once  passionate,  poetical,  and  refined,  and 
defies  the  spectator  to  associate  it  with  ideas  of  manufacture. 
Such  as  it  is,  the  work  has  evidently  grown  from  its  author's  cha 
racter,  like  a  flower  from  the  earth,  and  bears  scarcely  a  trace  of 
another's  influence.  As  poems  in  colour,  the  world  has  seen 
nothing  finer  since  the  days  of  Titian." 

In  this  passage  Mr.  Quilter  has  spoken  strongly  of  the 
influence  produced  by  Rossetti  upon  painting  and  the  deco- 
rative forms  of  art.  His  influence  upon  poetry  was  hardly 
or  not  at  all  less  considerable.  Our  two  greatest  living  poets, 
Swinburne  and  William  Morris,  allow  this  ;  and  I  am  fully 
of  opinion  that  his  early  preaching-forth  of  Browning  counted 
in  the  long  run  for  a  great  deal.  And  so  with  blue  china, 
Japanese  art,  and  the  modern  taste  in  bookbinding.  It  may 
to  some  seem  absurd — and  yet  I  believe  it  to  be  quite  true — 
that  he  modified  for  some  years  the  British  taste  in  female 
beauty  ;  promoting  the  possessors  (or  the  imitators)  of  auburn- 
golden  hair,  those  who  wore  the  hair  low  down  on  the 
forehead,  and  the  owners  of  strong-set  profiles — rich  lips,  and 
vigorous  chiselled  sweep  of  jaw  and  chin — also  stateliness  of 
height  and  tall  throats.  "  No  Roman  noses  need  apply." 
Along  with  all  this  went  fashions  of  dress.     But  of  course 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET— EXTRACTS.        427 

fashions  are  fleeting,  and  there  is  a  new  generation  which 
"  knows  not  Joseph."  It  may  be  said,  and  I  think  truly, 
that  the  actual  style  of  his  paintings  has  not,  since  his  death, 
left  any  such  traces  on  the  British  School  as  might  by  his 
upholders  have  been  looked  for.  But  Burne-Jones  remains 
in  the  ascendant  (long  may  he  so  continue !) — and  this 
betrays  the  vestiges  of  Rossetti. 

Ruskin  wrote,  in  a  letter  to  Rossetti  dating  probably  early 
in   1855  :— 

"  It  seems  to  me  that,  among  all  the  painters  I  know,  you  on  the 
whole  have  the  greatest  genius  ;  and  you  appear  to  me  also  to  be — 
as  far  as  I  can  make  out — a  very  good  sort  of  person.  I  see  that 
you  are  unhappy,  and  that  you  can't  bring  out  your  genius  as  you 
should.  It  seems  to  me  then  the  proper  and  necessary  thing,  if  I 
can,  to  make  you  more  happy  ;  and  that  I  shall  be  more  really 
useful  in  enabling  you  to  paint  properly,  and  keep  your  room  in 
order,  than  in  any  other  way." 

James  Smetham,  towards  1871  :— 

"  In  two  different  ways  I  see  and  admire  the  stern  toil  of  Ford 
Madox  Brown  and  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti.  No  one  knows  what 
work  costs  these  men,  and  how  profitable  it  is  to  see  their  example." 

Frederick  J.  Shields  : — 

"  The  mere  sum  of  work  often  accomplished  in  a  day  was 
astounding  ;  for,  when  once  he  grappled  with  his  picture,  he  never, 
when  in  health,  let  go  his  grip  till  daylight  failed  him." 

Dr.  Hake  :— 

"  The  Manor-house  [at  Kelmscott]  was  adequately  furnished  ;  but 
some  exquisite  chalk-drawings — one  especially — of  female  heads 
gave  it  a  charm.  I  thought  that  no  one  ever  could  paint  a  woman's 
eyes  like  Rossetti.  There  was  a  softness,  a  delicacy,  a  life,  a  soul, 
in  them,  never  seen  elsewhere  but  in  living  beings,  and  that  how 
rarely !  " 


428  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Professor  Edouard  Rod  : — 

"Je  ne  crois  pas  qu'on  trouverait  dans  l'histoire  des  arts  un  cas 
plus  curieux  que  cette  retraite  d'un  artiste  tout  jeune,  celebre  avant 
l'age,  doue  des  facultes  les  plus  exceptionnelles,  et  qui,  pendant  plus 
de  trente  ans,  inconnu  de  la  foule,  exerca  sur  une  partie  conside- 
rable de  l'elite  intellectuelle  de  son  pays  une  sorte  d'occulte  royaute. 
Rossetti  a  ce  trait  commun  avec  les  grands  peintres  de  la  Renais- 
sance italienne,  qu'il  s'attache  plus  a  la  peinture  de  Phomme  qu'a 
celle  de  la  nature.     Mais — et  voici  ou  il  est  bien  du  Nord — ce  n'est 
pas    l'homme   physique    qui   l'attire,   1'animal  humain    (comme  dit 
M.  Taine),  c'est  l'homme  interieur.     Aussi,  dedaigneux  des  belles 
jormes  du  corps,  ne  recherche-t-il  que  l'expression,  et  le  genre  de 
beaute  qui  peut  le  mieux  la  faire  ressortir.     Ce  qu'il  y  a  de  religieux 
en  lui  ce  n'est  done  pas  la  foi  au  surnaturel,  l'ideal  transcendental, 
le  besoin  d'etablir  la  vie  sur  des  bases  fixes  :  c'est  une  disposition 
toute  subjective,  une  faculte  tres  moderne,  l'extase.     Ses  figures  ont 
une  immobilite,   un  silence,  une  attitude  presque  suspendue,  une 
hesitation  lente  dans  leurs  rares  mouvements,  qui  les  font  ressembler 
a  ces  figures  de  reve  qui  demeurent  comme  posees  devant  l'imagina- 
tion,  sans  cependant  se  preciser  entitlement.     Parfois  il  se  plait  a,  les 
entourer  de  brillants  accessoires,  sans  que  pour  cela  elles  perdent  un 
instant  leur  apparence  surnaturelle,  le  je  ne  sais  quoi  qui  montre 
qu'elles  n'ont  pas  d'existence  reelle — que,  meme  fixees  sur  la  toile, 
elles  sont  encore  en  union  profonde  et  discrete  avec  Fame  de  l'artiste. 
Religieux,  profanes,  mythologiques,  les  sujets  ne  sont  pour  Rossetti 
que  des  pretextes.     Sous  des  formes  diverses,  il  n'exprime  jamais 
que  son  reve :    les  attitudes,   les  traits,  les  couleurs,  changent — et 
c'est  toujours   lui.      Rossetti,   d'un   bout   a   l'autre   de  son   oeuvre, 
demeure  un  pur  poete.     Son  dessin  est  souvent  mediocre,  avec  des 
fautes  evidentes.      Presque  toutes  ses  femmes  ont  des  mains  trop 
grandes :  tres  souvent  les  etoffes  qui  les  drapent  paraissent  reveler 
d'etranges    imperfections    physiques — un   bras    trop    court   ou   une 
epaule  rentree.     Mais  le  coloriste  fait  pardonner  les  negligences  du 
dessinateur.      L'art  du   peintre  demeure   intact,    en   dehors   de   la 
technique,  dans  cette  intensite  supreme  d'expression  qu'il  parvient 
a  donner  a  ses  figures,  sans  le  secours  de  grands  gestes  ni  de  mouve- 
ments violents.     C'est  la,  me  semble-t-il,  qu'est  la  valeur  artistique 
des  toiles  de  Rossetti,  dont  la  haute   valeur  poetique  ne  supporte 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET— EXTRACTS.        429 

aucun  doute  :  il  a  compris  qu'en  une  epoque  toute  intellectuelle  la 
peinture  elle-meme  devait  obeir  au  courant  general,  et  poursuivre 
un  autre  ideal  que  celui  de  la  forme  pure,  et  que  cet  ideal  ne 
pouvait  etre  que  /'expression.  II  a  vu  que  l'attitude  la  plus  calme  et 
le  geste  le  plus  lent  sont  parfaitement  compatibles  avec  la  plus 
grande  intensity  de  la  vie  interieure ;  et  il  a  rendu  a  Fart  des  qualites 
qu'il  avait  perdu  depuis  la  Renaissance." 

Gabriel  Mourey : — 

"  Au  sortir  de  mes  longues  haltes  devant  la  divine  Beata  Beatrix 
et  l'enchanteresse  Rosa  Triplex  [both  in  the  National  Gallery],  apres 
tant  de  visites  a  travers  tant  de  galeries  privees  recelant  quelque  chef- 
d'oeuvre  signe  destrois  initiales  benies  [D.  G.  R.],  toujours  je  me  suis 
senti  oppresse  par  le  sentiment  de  Fineluctable  impuissance  des 
mots  a  traduire  la  complexity  des  sensations,  les  extatiques  vertiges, 
ou  venait  de  me  ravir  l'irresistible  magie  de  ce  genie  exceptionnel 
et  radieux.  Quel  poete  en  effet,  quel  artiste,  parla  langage  plus 
profond,  plus  passionne  ?  Art  plein  de  mystere  et  d'ardeur,  debor- 
dant  de  melancolie ;  art  mi-religieux,  mi-profane  ;  art  qui  atteint  les 
limites  dernieres  de  l'expression  verbale  ou  plastique  par  la  seule 
valeur  de  Fame  qu'il  reflete  (en  dehors  meme  de  toute  realisation 
technique,  parfois  incomplete  ou  avortee) ;  art  inquietant  de  com- 
plexite, qui  mele,  a  Finspiration  renouvele  du  plus  grand  visionnaire 
des  temps,  Dante,  avec  telles  reminiscences  de  Fantiquite  et  d'un 
paganisme  lumineux,  les  inquietudes,  les  exasperations  vers  Fideal, 
de  Fhomme  moderne ;  art  qui  se  cree  a  la  fois  d'images  simples, 
presque  na'ives,  jaillies  d'un  cour  primitif,  voiles  de  mystere  septen- 
trional, parmi  la  fougue  epanchee  d'un  pur  sang  latin,  et  les 
obscurites  subtiles  d'une  nature  raffinee  d'Anglo-Saxon." 

The  following  is  by  G.  A.  Sartorio,  a  very  capable  painter, 
writing  in  the  Italian  magazine  //  Convito.  Signor  Sartorio 
(so  I  gather  from  his  article)  has  seen  not  many  of  the 
pictures  of  Dante  Rossetti,  but  judges  of  him  partly  from 
photographs,  books,  and  narratives.  I  should  have  regretted 
to  omit  from  my  selection  some  utterance  by  a  fully  qualified 
Italian  upon  his  semi-compatriot  Rossetti,  considered  as  an 
artist : — 


430  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

"The  struggle  arose  in  the  Exhibition  of  1850.  The  picture 
which  Rossetti  contributed  was  The  Annunciation,  now  in  the 
National  Gallery.  The  figure  of  the  Virgin,  the  true  gem  of  the 
picture,  is  a  very  refined  figure  of  a  modern  Virgin,  of  child-like 
garb,  painted  with  rare  and  loving  perfection  of  form.  I  incline  to 
trace  the  ideal  descent  of  this  pure  physiognomy,  of  impeccable 
expression,  from  the  early  Flemish  paintings,  and  notably  from  the 
works  of  Memling.  Just  at  that  period  Dante  Gabriel  had  carried 
out  his  tour  in  Flanders,  and  had  written  his  sonnets  in  The  Germ 
on  Memling  and  Bruges ;  and,  as  I  find  in  the  art  of  the  Nether- 
lands a  considerable  portion  of  the  inspiration,  not  only  of  the 
Prseraphaelites  but  of  much  English  art  in  general,  I  conceive 
that  the  almost  feminine  nature  of  the  genius  of  D.  G.  Rossetti 
must  necessarily  have  coalesced  with  the  sentiment  of  Memling. 
Rossetti,  in  all  his  subsequent  works,  shows  himself  imbued  with 
such  sentiment — windows  from  which  are  to  be  seen  belfries,  close 
gardens,  silent  canals,  fruit-laden  plants  in  damp  orchards.  The 
turn  of  such  compositions  has  no  precedents  in  the  English  School ; 
and  the  paintings  of  Rossetti,  with  veiled  and  calm  light,  with  a 
pious  atmosphere  which  almost  brings  into  the  silence  of  the 
dwellings  the  odour  of  candle  and  incense,  show  a  clear  filiation 
from  the  sentiment  divined  from  Memling.  .  .  .  While  Millais 
and  Hunt  were  seeking,  in  the  landscape  of  Surrey  or  of  Palestine 
copied  in  the  open  air,  strong  but  not  dusky  tones,  Rossetti  obtained 
them  by  daring  essays  in  his  studio  through  improvised  overlayings 
and  continual  experiments  with  the  palette,  animated  by  the 
recollection  of  the  brilliant  pictures  observed  in  Flanders  and  in  the 
Louvre.  From  that  period  began  in  him  the  personal  evolution. 
Rather  than  search  for  his  design  in  the  fact,  he  finds  it  in  his  own 
idealisms.  Hence,  if  Hunt  may  be  called  the  fervid  and  constant 
adherent  of  the  first  [Praeraphaelite]  ideal,  the  evolution  in  Rossetti, 
who  developed  his  originality  by  working  his  brain  in  pursuit  of  his 
dreams  and  his  passion,  penetrates  into  the  laws  of  the  cinquecento, 
defers  to  the  eclectic  of  Leonardo,  and  he  becomes  (in  a  strict  sense 
of  the  word)  a  Raphaelist.  Looking  to  his  successive  changes  of 
style,  one  can  easily  perceive  how  rooted  in  the  artist  was  a  tendency 
to  overload  his  pictures  with  symbols.  The  myths  and  legends 
are  outlived  by  an  aesthetic  and  moral  significance,  all  the  deeper 
and   more  human  the  more   it   is   devoid  of  self-regarding   creed. 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET — EXTRACTS.        43  I 

Painter  and  poet,  he  animates  the  plastic  product  with  an  intimate 
psychological  sense ;  and  his  effort,  crowned  with  achievement,  has 
greater   depth   than   a   continuous   and  personal  perfecting  of  the 


Literature. — A  poet  praised  by  the  Author  of  Atalanta  in 
Calydon  must  have  something  of  the  same  sensation  as  a  king 
diademed  by  an  emperor  ;  a  fair-minded  man — and  Dante 
Rossetti  was  one — loaded  and  almost  assailed  by  the  sublime 
rage  of  generosity  of  Algernon  Swinburne,  may  perhaps  have 
felt  the  consciousness  of  his  own  blemishes  more  keenly  than 
that  of  his  powers.  At  any  rate  his  brother  can,  on  his 
behalf,  feel  something  of  that.  Here  are  a  few  words 
extracted  from  the  29  large  pages  in  which  Mr.  Swinburne 
testified  of  the  Poems  of  1870: — 

"In  all  great  poets  there  must  be  an  ardent  harmony,  a  heat 
of  spiritual  life,  guiding  without  constraining  the  bodily  grace  of 
motion,  which  shall  give  charm  and  power  to  their  least  work ; 
sweetness  that  cannot  be  weak,  and  force  that  will  not  be  rough. 
There  must  be  an  instinct  and  a  resolution  of  excellence  which  will 
allow  no  shortcoming  or  malformation  of  thought  or  word.  There 
must  also  be  so  natural  a  sense  of  right  as  to  make  any  such 
deformity  or  defect  impossible,  and  leave  upon  the  work  done  no 
trace  of  any  effort  to  avoid  or  to  achieve.  It  must  be  serious, 
simple,  perfect ;  and  it  must  be  thus  by  evident  and  native  impulse. 
In  all  these  points  the  style  of  Mr.  Rossetti  excels  that  of  any 
English  poet  of  our  day.  Much  of  Mr.  Rossetti's  work  is  so  intense 
in  aim,  so  delicate  and  deep  in  significance,  so  exuberant  in  offshoot 
and  undergrowth  of  sentiment  and  thought,  that  even  the  sweet 
lucidity  and  steady  current  of  his  style  may  not  suffice  to  save  it 
from  the  charges  of  darkness  and  difficulty.  He  is  too  great  a 
master  of  speech  to  incur  the  blame  of  hard  or  tortuous  expression ; 
and  his  thought  is  too  sound  and  pure  to  be  otherwise  dark  than 
as  a  deep  wellspring  at  noon  may  be,  even  where  the  sun  is  strongest 
and  the  water  brightest.  Colour  and  sound  are  servants  of  his 
thought,  and  his  thought  is  servant  of  his  will.  The  subject-matter 
of  his  work  is  always  great  and  fit;  nothing  trivial,  nothing  illicit, 
nothing  unworthy  the  workmanship  of  a  master-hand,  is  to  be  swept 


432  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

up  from  any  corner  of  the  floor.  There  is  no  misuse  or  waste  of 
good  work  on  stuff  too  light  or  hard  to  take  the  impression  of  his 
noble  style.  Among  English-speaking  poets  of  his  age  I  know  of 
none  who  can  reasonably  be  said  to  have  given  higher  proof  of  the 
highest  qualities  than  Mr.  Rossetti — if  the  qualities  we  rate  highest 
in  poetry  be  imagination,  passion,  thought,  harmony  and  variety 
of  singing-power." 

From  Theodore  Watts,  who  is  here  writing  as  much  about 
Rossetti's  fine  art  and  his  personality  as  about  his  poetry  : — 

"  In  permanence  of  the  romantic  feeling,  in  vitality  of  belief  in 
the  power  of  the  unseen,  Rossetti  stands  alone.  Even  the  finest 
portions  of  his  historical  ballad  The  King's  Tragedy  are  those  which 
deal  with  the  supernatural.  In  all  matters  of  taste  Rossetti's  in- 
fluence has  been  immense  ;  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  Victorian 
poet  has  left  so  deep  an  impression  upon  the  poetic  methods  of  his 
time.  .  .  .  To  eliminate  asceticism  from  romantic  art,  and  yet  to 
remain  romantic ;  to  retain  that  mysticism  which  alone  can  give 
life  to  romantic  art,  and  yet  to  be  as  sensuous  as  the  Titians  who 
revived  sensuousness  at  the  sacrifice  of  mysticism — was  the  quest, 
more  or  less  conscious,  of  Rossetti's  genius.  Throughout  his  life 
he  had  taken  an  interest  in  only  four  subjects — poetry,  painting, 
mediaeval  mysticism,  and  woman.  But  then  how  passionate  and 
how  deep  had  been  his  interest  in  all  these !  There  is  not  one 
love-sonnet  in  his  book  which  is  a  merely  literary  production.  He 
was  the  slave  of  his  own  imagination — an  imagination  of  a  power 
and  dominance  such  as  I  have  never  seen  equalled.  Of  its  vividness 
no  artistic  expression  of  his  can  give  any  notion.  He  had  not  the 
smallest  command  over  it." 

Hall  Caine  : — 

"Rossetti's  sonnets  are  of  varied  metrical  structure;  but  their 
intellectual  structure  is  uniform,  comprising  in  each  case  a  flow  and 
ebb  of  thought  within  the  limits  of  a  single  conception.  In  this 
latter  respect  they  have  a  character  almost  peculiar  to  themselves 
among  English  sonnets.  Rossetti  was  not  the  first  English  writer 
who  deliberately  separated  octave  and  sestett ;  but  he  was  the  first 
who   obeyed,   throughout   a   series   of  sonnets,  the   canon   of  the 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET— EXTRACTS.        433 

contemporary  structure  requiring  that  a  sonnet  shall  present  the 
twofold  facet  of  a  single  thought  or  emotion.  27ie  House  of  Life 
touches  many  passions,  and  depicts  life  in  most  of  its  changeful 
aspects.  It  would  afford  an  adequate  test  of  its  comprehensiveness 
to  note  how  rarely  a  mind  in  general  sympathy  with  the  author 
could  come  to  its  perusal  without  alighting  upon  something  that 
would  be  in  harmony  with  its  mood." 

Harry  Buxton  Forman  : — 

"  It  is  a  great  treat  to  come  upon  a  volume  bearing  a  weight  of 
earnestness  in  every  page,  and  a  burden  of  bestowed  care  in  every 
line ;  and  such  a  book  must  every  reader  of  intelligence  find  Mr. 
Rossetti's  to  be,  even  in  a  first  skimming  perusal.  From  title-page 
to  imprint  no  trivial  thing  is  to  be  found ;  and  from  first  to  last 
word  of  each  poem,  be  it  never  so  small  or  modest,  no  syllable  can 
be  detected  standing  in  its  present  position  without  the  deliberate 
sanction  of  the  authors  thoughtful  consideration  visibly  stamped 
upon  it.  The  whole  collection  is  of  that  rare  order  that  commands 
immediate  admiration,  in  the  occult  way  wherein  an  admirable  person 
commands  it.  .  .  ,  An  artist  whose  ideas  are  thus  cut  out  as  it  were 
with  a  red-hot  blade  on  his  very  heart  cannot  always  pick  and  choose 
his  subject;  he  must  often  be  chosen  by  his  subject;  but,  whatever 
that  be,  we  may  feel  sure  of  large  affluent  handling,  and  true  human 
tendencies,  and  just  and  masculine  views  of  life." 

Joseph  Knight : — 

"Taken  as  a  whole,  this  series  of  sonnets  [The  House  of  Life] 
constitutes,  in  its  class,  the  greatest  gift  that  poetry  has  received 
since  the  days  of  Shakespear.  Individual  sonnets  as  fine  as  any  in 
The  House  of  Life  are  to  be  found  in  Milton,  Wordsworth,  Mrs. 
Browning,  and  some  other  poets.  A  series  such  as  this — which  is 
in  fact  a  life's  utterance  and  a  life's  story — modern  literature  does 
not  possess.  That  passages  are  obscure,  and  that  the  sequence  of 
idea  is  not  always  to  be  traced,  is  true.  The  same  however  holds 
good  of  every  poem  written  under  similar  conditions,  and  in  an 
approximately  similar  form." 

VOL.  I.  2S 


434  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Franz  Hueffer  : — 

"  Rossetti  has  been  called  a  Literary  Poet — a  poet  writing  for 
poets ;  and  this  is  true  in  the  sense  that  his  work  is  never  likely 
to  become  popular,  as  Mr.  Tennyson's  work  is,  and  Byron's  was, 
popular.     For  that  purpose   he  lacks   the  immediate  rapport  with 
contemporary  feeling,  and  that  broad  human  sympathy  which  Mr. 
Tennyson   alone   among  living  English   poets    combines    with   the 
highest  degree   of  literary  refinement.     Rossetti,   as  a  rule,   takes 
refuge  among  the  idealized  men  and  women  of  a  remote  age,  whose 
thoughts  he  has  fathomed,  and  whose  very  language  has  to  some 
extent  become  his  own.     Hence  the  tone  of  the  popular  mediaeval 
ballad  struck  with  rare  power  in  The  -King's  Tragedy.     Even  Rossetti's 
warmest  admirers  would  hardly  have  given  him  credit  for  the  power 
to  grapple  with  a  historical  subject  displayed  in   this    remarkable 
work — perhaps   his  masterpiece  in  narrative  poetry,  even  as   Cloud- 
Confines  is  his  highest  effort  in  the  field  of  contemplative,  not  to 
say   philosophic,    verse.     The  defects    of   'literary   poetry,'    in   the 
sense  above  alluded  to,  are  most  apparent  in  the  lyrical  portion  of 
the  present  volume,  more  especially  in  the  sonnets.     The  poet  is 
supposed  to  utter   his   individual    feelings ;    and    our  faith    in   the 
genuineness  of  those  feelings  is  somewhat  severely  shaken  if  we  find 
that  they  are  clad  in  a  mode  of  expression  which  a  poet  of  Dante's 
age  might  have  used  if  he  had  been  able  to  read  Shakespear." 

William  Sharp  : — 

"The  ballad  can  still  remain  a  choice  form  for  expression  in  more 
than  one  direction.  It  can  be  an  historical  or  legendary  poem  treated 
with  the  simple  directness  of  the  old  method,  or  it  can  be  a  dramatic 
lyric  dealing  with  imaginative  creations  in  place  of  real  personalities 
and  actual  facts.  The  ballad  is  the  lyrically  dramatic  expression 
of  actions  and  events  in  the  lives  of  others.  Of  the  seven  published 
ballads  by  Rossetti,  three  belong  to  the  historical  or  legendary 
section,  three  to  the  section  of  individual  imaginative  creation,  and 
one  stands  midway  between  these  two  sections.  The  three  that 
more  or  less  accurately  conform  to  ballad-requirements  are  Stratton 
Water,  The  King's  Tragedy,  and  The  White  Ship;  those  that  are 
so  strongly  marked  by  individual  characteristics  and  by  general  style 
as  to  be  better  embraced  by  the  freer  term   'dramatic  lyrics,'  or 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET— EXTRACTS.        435 

lyrically  dramatic  poems,  are  Troy  Town,  Eden  Bower,  and  Rose 
Mary;  and  the  seventh  is  Sister  Helen." 

Mrs.  Esther  Wood  :— 

"  No  other  English  poet  has  resolved  the  breadth  and  simplicity 
of  the  Gothic,  and  the  depth  and  intensity  of  the  Italian,  habit  of 
expression,  into  such  distinctive  poetic  vehicles.  But  at  the  same 
time  few  have  blended  the  diverse  elements  of  the  modern  English 
tongue  into  the  harmony  and  sonority  with  which  Rossetti's  music 
thrills  when  he  tempers  the  sharper  Saxon  with  a  deep  undertone 
of  polysyllabic  song,  or  stirs  the  languorous  pulses  of  a  sonnet  with 
some  swift  cadence  of  familiar  words.  .  .  .  Jenny  perhaps,  being 
cast  in  a  more  meditative  form,  lacks  the  poignancy  and  fervour  of 
the  utterance  which  comes,  in  A  Last  Confession,  from  the  lips  of 
the  sinner  himself,  instead  of  from  the  spectator  merely  ;  but  it 
surpasses  all  contemporary  studies  of  its  kind  in  its  bold  and  masterly 
handling  of  a  difficult  theme.  .  .  .  Nor  is  the  effect  of  Rossetti's 
universal  preference  for  assonance  over  rhyme — a  special  charac- 
teristic of  romantic  poetry — identical  in  the  ballads,  sonnets,  and 
monologues,  just  quoted."  % 

I  am  not  quite  sure  which  are  the  poems  to  which  Mrs. 
Wood  here  more  especially  refers  ;  but  I  understand  that 
The  Brides  Prelude,  the  sonnets  Pandora,  Fiammetta,  Found, 
Astarte  Syriaca,  and  Mary  Magdalene,  Jenny,  and  the  trans- 
lated song  in  A  Last  Confession,  are  at  all  events  some  of 
them.  Feeling  a  little  startled  at  the  notion  that  my  brother 
evinced  a  "  universal  preference  for  assonance  over  rhyme," 
I  looked  through  the  sonnets  and  the  song,  and  through  the 
first  three  pages  of  The  Bride's  Prelude  and  of  fenny.  The 
result  is  that  I  find  91  instances  of  true  rhyme,  and  only  26 
instances  of  what  can,  even  by  a  stretch  of  phrase,  be  called 
assonance.  I  concluded  by  quoting  to  myself  the  words  in 
Hamlet,  "The  lady  doth  protest  too  much  me-thinks."  If 
she  had  limited  herself  to  saying  that,  in  his  various  classes 
of  composition,  Rossetti  showed  a  liking  for  mingling  as- 
sonance amid  rhyme,  no  exception  could  be  taken  to  that 
statement. 


436  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

Coventry  Patmore  writes  : — 

"  In  Rossetti,  as  in  several  other  modern  poets  of  great  reputations 
we  are  constantly  being  pulled  up,  in  the  professedly  fiery  course 
of  a  tale  of  passion,  to  observe  the  moss  on  a  rock  or  the  note  of 
a  chaffinch.  High  finish  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  quality  of 
extreme  definiteness  in  detail ;  indeed,  it  is  more  often  exercised  by 
the  perfect  poet  in  blurring  outlines  than  in  giving  them  acuteness. 
It  must  be  admitted  however  that  Rossetti  had  an  unusual  temptation 
to  this  kind  of  excess  in  his  extraordinary  faculty  for  seeing  object, 
in  such  a  fierce  light  of  imagination  as  very  few  poets  have  been 
able  to  throw  upon  external  things.  He  can  be  forgiven  for  spoiling 
a  tender  lyric  by  a  stanza  such  as  this,  which  seems  scratched  with 
an  adamantine  pen  upon  a  slab  of  agate — 

'  But  the  sea  stands  spread 
As  one  wall  with  the  flat  skies, 
Where  the  lean  black  craft,  like  flies, 

Seem  wellnigh  stagnated, 

Soon  to  drop  off  dead.' 

In  much  of  his  work  there  is  a  rich  and  obscure  glow  of  insight 
into  depths  too  profound  and  too  sacred  for  clear  speech,  even  if 
they  could  be  spoken;  a  sort  of  insight  not  at  all  uncommon  in  the 
great  art  of  past  times,  but  exceedingly  rare  in  the  art  of  our  own." 

F.  W.  H.  Myers:— 

"  He  is  not  a  prophet,  but  an  artist ;  yet  an  artist  who,  by  the 
very  intensity  of  his  artistic  vision,  and  by  some  inborn  bent  towards 
symbol  and  mysticism,  stands  on  the  side  of  those  who  see  in 
material  things  a  spiritual  significance,  and  utters  words  of  universal 
meaning  from  the  fullness  of  his  own  heart." 

William  Morris  : — 

"It  is  certainly  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  master  in  the  supremely 
difficult  art  of  painting  should  have  qualities  which  enable  him  to 
deal  with  the  other  supremely  difficult  one  of  poetry;  and  to  do 
this  not  only  with  the  utmost  depth  of  feeling  and  thought  but  also 
with  the  most  complete  and  unfaltering  mastery  over  its  material ; 
that  he  should  find  in  its  limitations  and  special  conditions,  not 
stumbling-blocks  or  fetters,   but  just  so  many  pleasures,  so  much 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET — EXTRACTS.        437 

whetting  of  invention  and  imagination.  In  no  poems  is  the  spon- 
taneous and  habitual  interpenetration  of  matter  and  manner,  which 
is  the  essence  of  poetry,  more  complete  than  in  these.  Among 
pieces  where  the  mystical  feeling  is  by  necessity  of  subject  most 
simple  and  most  on  the  surface,  The  Blessed  Damozel  should  be 
noticed ;  a  poem  in  which  wild  longing,  and  the  shame  of  life,  and 
despair  of  separation,  and  the  worship  of  love,  are  wrought  into  a 
palpable  dream,  in  which  the  heaven  that  exists  as  if  for  the  sake 
of  the  beloved  is  as  real  as  the  earthly  things  about  the  lover,  while 
these  are  scarcely  less  strange,  or  less  pervaded  with  a  sense  of  his 
passion,  than  the  things  his  imagination  has  made.  ...  I  think 
these  lyrics,  with  all  their  other  merits,  the  most  complete  of  their 
time.  No  difficulty  is  avoided  in  them — no  subject  is  treated  vaguely, 
languidly,  or  heartlessly.  As  there  is  no  commonplace  or  second- 
hand thought  left  in  them,  to  be  atoned  for  by  beauty  of  execution, 
so  no  thought  is  allowed  to  overshadow  that  beauty  of  art  which 
compels  a  real  poet  to  speak  in  verse  and  not  in  prose.  Nor  do 
I  know  what  lyrics  of  any  time  are  to  be  called  great  if  we  are  to 
deny  that  title  to  these." 

Walter  Pater  : — 

"The  reader  of  to-day  may  observe  already,  in  The  Blessed 
Damozel  written  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  a  prefigurement  of  the  chief 
characteristics  of  that  [Pra^raphaelite]  school.  Common  to  that 
school  and  to  him  [Rossetti],  and  in  both  alike  of  primary  signifi- 
cance, was  the  quality  of  sincerity — a  perfect  sincerity,  taking  effect 
in  the  deliberate  use  of  the  most  direct  and  unconventional  ex- 
pression for  the  conveyance  of  a  poetic  sense  which  recognized  no 
conventional  standard  of  what  poetry  was  called  upon  to  be.  Here 
was  certainly  one  new  poet  more,  with  an  accent  which  might  count 
as  the  very  seal  of  reality  on  one  man's  proper  speech — as  that 
speech  itself  was  the  wholly  natural  expression  of  certain  wonderful 
things  he  really  felt  and  saw.  The  lovely  little  landscapes  scattered 
up  and  down  his  poems — glimpses  of  a  landscape  not  indeed  of 
broad  open-air  effects,  but  rather  that  of  a  painter  concentrated  upon 
the  picturesque  effect  of  one  or  two  selected  objects  at  a  time — 
attest,  by  their  very  freshness  and  simplicity,  to  a  pictorial  or 
descriptive  power,  in  dealing  with  the  inanimate  world,  which  is 
certainly  still  one  half  of  the  charm  in  that  other,  more  remote  and 


438  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

mystic,  use  of  it.  For  with  Rossetti  this  sense  of  (after  all,  lifeless) 
Nature  is  translated  to  a  higher  service  in  which  it  does  but  in- 
corporate itself  with  some  phase  of  strong  emotion.  A  sustained 
impressibility  towards  the  mysterious  conditions  of  man's  every-day 
life,  towards  the  very  mystery  itself  in  it,  gives  a  singular  gravity  to 
all  his  work.  For  Rossetti  the  great  affections  of  persons  to  each 
other — swayed  and  determined,  in  the  case  of  his  highly  pictorial 
genius,  mainly  by  that  so  called  '  material '  loveliness — formed  the 
great  undeniable  reality  in  things,  the  solid  resisting  substance  in 
a  world  where  all  beside  might  be  but  shadow.  One  monumental 
lyrical  piece,  Soothsay,  testifies — more  clearly  even  than  the  Nineveh 
— to  the  reflective  force,  the  dry  reason,  always  at  work  behind  his 
imaginative  creations,  which  at  no  time  dispensed  with  a  genuine 
intellectual  structure.  His  characteristic,  his  really  revealing,  work 
lay  in  the  adding  to  poetry  of  fresh  poetic  material,  of  a  new  order 
of  phenomena — in  the  creation  of  a  new  ideal." 

Madame  Darmesteter  (Miss  Mary  Robinson) : — 

"  A  very  few  weeks  after  publication  [of  the  Poems,  1870]  he  was 
generally  admitted  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  of  living  English  poets. 
In  passing,  I  would  point  out  the  chief  features  of  this  work  by  a 
poet  of  great  imaginative  penetration  who  had  the  signal  good 
fortune  to  express  his  subtle  and  rare  ideas  with  the  vivid  presentation 
of  the  painter.  Even  the  descriptions  of  unearthly  phenomena 
convey  a  sense  of  actual  vision.  The  solemn  pity  and  tenderness 
of  Jenny ',  the  angelic  beauty  of  The  Blessed  Damozel,  the  tragic  force 
of  Sister  Helen,  are  qualities  that  only  great  poets  possess.  But 
more  solemn,  more  beautiful,  more  full  of  a  finer  force,  than  these 
poems,  are  the  unrivalled  sonnets  which  build-up  The  House  of  Life. 
Here,  for  the  first  time  since  Milton,  the  English  language  is  used 
with  a  sonority  and  power  rivalling  the  natural  harmonies  of  Italian 
or  Greek.  A  singular  value  is  given  to  the  motive  of  these  sonnets 
by  the  poet's  belief  in  the  eternal  effect  and  continual  existence 
of  the  thoughts  and  deeds  of  man." 

James  Skelton  : — 

"  Mr.  Rossetti  is  never  desultory  nor  garrulous.  His  poems 
display  the  highest  concentration  of  the  poetic  faculty.  They  are 
terse  as  epigrams.     Mr.  Rossetti  seldom  uses  a  metaphor.     There 


ROSSETTI   AS   PAINTER   AND   POET— EXTRACTS.        439 

is  little  or  no  colour  in  his  poems.  He  never  indulges  in  elaborate 
portraiture.  But  the  pure  idea  is  presented  to  us  with  surpassing 
clearness.  He  realizes  the  emotion  in  the  most  absolute  way.  The 
fire  of  his  imagination  is  a  spiritual  flame  which  consumes  whatever 
is  not  essential." 

Gabriel  Sarrazin  : — 

"Voici  done  qu'elle  reparait,  mais  plus  endolorie  et  comme 
rajeunie  d'alanguissement  tout  moderne,  l'antique  extase  de  Dante. 
De  longues  visions  claires,  d'une  plastique  achevee,  ou  de  courtes 
exaltations,  d'une  quintessence  de  reve  presque  nebuleuse,  nous 
en  deroulent  les  mystiques  peripeties.  A  une  epoque  ou  l'idee  de 
l'amour  s'est  appauvrie  ou  materialisee,  ou  l'invasion  des  mille  petits 
besoins  de  l'esprit  bourgeois,  s'implantant  sur  la  ruine  totale  des 
deux  ou  trois  grands  instincts  de  l'esprit  chevaleresque,  a  tue  pour 
jamais  les  passions  dont  vivaient  les  amoureux  de  la  Renaissance ; 
dans  un  age,  en  outre,  ou  l'amour  platonique  n'est  plus  qu'une 
affectation,  ou  qui  '  veut  faire  l'ange  fait  la  bete ' ;  dans  cet  age-la 
Rossetti  est  un  des  seuls  (avec  Lamartine)  a  oser  rearborer,  en 
parfaite  sincerite  de  cceur,  le  grand  Amour  extatique  des  moines  et 
des  chevaliers.  Non  pas  qu'il  n'y  ait  dans  son  ceuvre  des  adorations 
teintees  de  sensualite  :  il  y  en  a,  et  la  plus  exquise  pudeur  y  preside. 
Mais  dans  les  grandes  pieces,  dans  les  pieces  tout  a  fait  significatives, 
dans  celles  ou  Fame  travaille  a  se  detacher  des  entraves  terrestres 
qui  l'empechent  d'atteindre  au  divin,  e'est  a  dire  a  l'lmmateriel, 
on  sent  qu'elle  dchappe,  vers  par  vers,  a  ses  tyrans,  et  qu'un  dernier 
effort  va  liberer  son  vol." 

Luigi  Gamberale,  who  has  translated  into  Italian  verse 
Rossetti's  Last  Confession,  Jenny,  and  some  other  composi- 
tions, expresses  himself  thus  with  regard  to  Mr.  Swinburne's 
criticism,  already  cited  in  this  section  : — 

"This  is  simply  the  reasoned  impression  of  a  great  poet,  who 
sees  realized  the  ideal  which  he  had  conceived  of  a  perfect  writer. 
And,  since  the  ideal  is  very  high,  and  the  critic  bears  the  name  of 
Swinburne,  we  may  securely  rest  upon  the  truth  and  the  soundness 
of  his  judgment.  Yet  in  some  points  he  has  gone  beyond  the  mark. 
I  too  fancy  that  I  have  sometimes  observed  the  obscurity  of  Rossetti ; 


440  DANTE   GABRIEL   ROSSETTI. 

and,  if  Swinburne  explains  and  excuses  it  with  his  image  of  the 
'  wellspring,'  it  might  perchance,  following  that  same  image,  be 
remarked  that  no  eye  in  the  world  can  without  blinking  scan  a  deep 
water  which  glisters  in  the  rays  of  a  meridian  sun." 

There  are  other  translations  of  Rossetti's  works  to  which 
I  ought  to  spare  a  word  of  acknowledgment :  into  Italian, 
The  Blessed  Damozel,  by  Signor  Ettore  Ciccotti ;  into  French, 
The  House  of  Life,  by  Madame  Clemence  Couve  ;  into  Danish, 
some  sonnets  by  Herr  Adolf  Hansen.  And  assuredly  these 
are  not  all.  I  should  have  liked  moreover  to  quote  some- 
thing, about  either  pictures  or  poems,  from  Messrs.  Comyns 
Carr,  Symonds,  Ashcroft  Noble,  Hardinge,  Colvin,  and 
Frederick  Cooper,  Professor  Dowden,  and  Dr.  Westland 
Marston  ;  but  considerations  of  space  have  admonished  me 
to  the  contrary. 


Here  I  close.  I  have  tried  to  pay  my  fraternal  debt  to 
the  memory  of  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti ;  a  memory  and  a 
name  honoured  throughout  and  beyond  the  precincts  of  the 
two  noble  lands  of  his  origin. 


